


Rising Son

by demonsboyking



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Soulbonds, Leviathans, M/M, Sabriel Big Bang 2014, Season 7 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-12 00:52:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3338093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsboyking/pseuds/demonsboyking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Leviathan can be killed by only two things - and both of them come solely from Archangels. Luckily, Gabriel's back from the dead and willing to help the Winchesters kill them. The only catch is he's going to need Sam's help to do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rising Son

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my lovely artist, milaley, and my wonderful beta, Madds33.

Heels clack sharply; and in the silence, the sound is almost deafening. It is a sound that belongs in a ballroom with marble floors and crystal chandeliers, where all eyes are focused upon the girl in the stunning dress and gorgeous heels; it belongs in the halls of government, as a politician steps to the podium to make an argument that will destroy the opposition. It does not belong here, in an empty, decaying motel. But the clacking continues – against a cheap wooden floor that couldn’t possibly produce the sound – as the owner of the heels strides across the room. She stops by the only thing in the room that has not decayed – the body of a man, lying almost peacefully in the center of a pair of ashy wings scorched into the floor.

There is, quite suddenly, another person, a man, standing over the prone figure. Blood drips from his fingertips, his nose, his hair, his trench coat, a small pool of the stuff growing beneath his feet.

“He has to come back now,” he whispers. “Things have gone wrong, horribly wrong, and he’s the only one who can really stop it.”

He finally looks at her. “I came here to do it,” he admits. “I was going to bring him back. But I can’t.”

She does not smile, but there is triumph in her voice as she says, “On that account, I do believe I can help. All you need is a spark of his grace, and I have that.” She passes the man a small glass vial filled with a viscous red liquid that can only be blood. “It should be just enough,” the goddess tells him.

He nods, and takes the vial from her. A look of intense concentration appears on his face, and he swiftly pours the vial full of blood into the mouth of the figure. There is no bright flash of light, the ground does not shake. Nothing appears to have happened at all, and she would have thought it hadn’t worked if she hadn’t noticed the faintest rise and fall of the prone figure’s chest.

She looks around, but the thing that is not a man, is not even an angel, not anymore, has vanished. She squats down by the once dead, now sleeping, man. “Good luck,” she wishes him, and she wishes it sincerely. After all, if he screws it up, she too will be just as dead as he was only a moment ago and there won’t be anyone left to bring her back.

“You’re going to need it,” Kali, Goddess of Time and Change, tells him, and vanishes.

******

Someone wakes, lying on rotting wood and ashes. He’s not quite sure who he is, or if he even is a he. This body is male, yes, but this person cannot shake the feeling that they are somehow neither male nor female. They cannot shake the feeling that such terms have no meaning, not for them, because a sex cannot be assigned to a wave of light and intent. But they know such thoughts are crazy, and so they sit in the center of the odd design of ashy wings that has been burned into the floor until a name comes to the tip of their tongue, unbidden.

“Gabriel,” says the light wrapped in the body of a man.

“I am Gabriel,” says Gabriel.

******

Sam hears a knocking at the motel room’s door and freezes. He sees Dean freeze too, and he can tell that they’re both thinking the same thing: _Oh god, they’ve found us. I don’t know how, but they’ve found us. They’ve found us and we can’t fight them, we can’t win._

A moment later, Sam takes a moment to appreciate the stupidity of this sudden conclusion. He doubts that the leviathan, with all their strength, would bother to knock. And he _highly_ doubts that they would knock the rhythm of _Heat of the Moment_.

Having reached this, in his opinion quite obvious and sensible conclusion, Sam walked over to the door and proceeded to open it, cutting off Dean’s squeak of “Sam what the hell do you -”

Sam blinked. And when the person standing in from of him didn’t appear to change or vanish in any way, shape, or form, pressed his thumb hard into the slice on his palm. When the figure still refused to vanish, or resolve itself into a more mundane form, Sam called for Dean, a note of panic evident in his voice.

Dean appeared by Sam’s side almost instantly, finger curled around the trigger of a gun and shouting, “Dammit Sammy, why would you open the fucking door!” Upon seeing the figure in the doorway, Dean stopped suddenly, expression shifting so swiftly between anger and surprise it was almost comical. He grabbed the container of holy water sitting on the window ledge by the door, and drenched the figure.

The man sputtered indignantly. “Is this how you greet all of your friends?” he demanded.

“You can’t be Gabriel,” Sam said, flatly. “He’s dead.”

“Was dead,” Gabriel corrected. “I was dead, but now I am very much alive and very much annoyed at being drenched in holy water by the two people I thought would be the happiest to see me.”

“As much as we’d love to turn this into a chick flick moment, I’m afraid we’re going to need a bit of proof,” Dean told Gabriel, holding out a silver knife to him. “Show us your gums, too.”

Rolling his eyes and huffing in a very put upon way, Gabriel curled up his lips to showcase his lack of vampire teeth, and sliced the sliver blade across his arm.

“Now that I’ve proven that I’m not some sort of crazy shapeshifter demon will you let me in?”

“Is it you?” Sam whispered, shocked. “Can it really be you?”

Gabriel smiled softly at him. “You bet it’s me, kiddo. As sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, as sure as your brother is in love with Doctor Sexy. And I can prove it to you.”

Sam ignored Dean’s proclamations of his heterosexuality to focus on Gabriel. “Alright,” he said, “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

Gabriel leaned up and whispered in Sam’s ear, “I brought your brother back from the dead six months after Mystery Spot, and then sent you both back into the past like it had never happened.”

Sam slowly leaned away from Gabriel, never breaking eye contact, and said, “He’s not lying, Dean. This is really Gabriel.”

“What? How do you know? What did he say to you?” Dean demanded hotly. “C’mon Sam, answer me!” he added without even pausing for breath.

Sam turned to face Dean slowly, trying to think of something to say that would get Dean to let it go.

“It’s something…that only….only Gabriel _could_ know. Trust me, just this once Dean. It’s really Gabriel, I promise.” Sam looked Dean in the eyes, silently begging him: _Let it go Dean, please_.

“I trust you, Sam.” But Dean’s eyes told Sam that this conversation was _not_ over.

***

“So what happened? I’m going to assume by the fact that you two are still alive and that the apocalypse seems to not have happened that you figured out how to implement my devilishly clever plan and stick Luci back in the box where he belongs. However, seeing as this isn’t Paradise on Earth, you must have figured out something for Michael as well. I must admit, I’m curious. How’d you do it?” Gabriel leaned backward, propping himself up on his elbows, half sitting and half laying on the motel bed. “This oughta be good.”

Sam sighed. “You make it sound so easy. I mean, yeah, we did it, but it was hard, and we very nearly didn’t manage it.”

“He ain’t lyin’,” Dean interjected from where he was getting a beer out of the mini fridge. “There were a couple of times I really thought the whole planet was gonna get deep-fried.”

“As for Michael, he’s down there in the Cage too. He and Lucifer can fight their war for the rest of eternity. Good riddance,” Sam added.

“Yeah, yeah, but how’d you _do_ it? How’d you guys, two _humans_ , manage to stick my two most powerful brothers in the Cage?” Gabriel smirked. “I know they didn’t just waltz in there because you asked them really, really nicely. So come on, how’d it all go down?”

“We got the last two rings, and figured out how to open up the gate. We needed to come up with a way to lure Lucifer there, and to get him to jump into the Cage. Long story short, I said yes, Michael showed up wearing our half-brother Adam, I took back control and threw the both of us into the Pit.” Sam shrugged. “That’s all there is to say about it really. Cas pulled me out a bit later, but my soul got left behind. Death fixed that up for me, and here we are.”

“Wait….what?” Gabriel sputtered. “You’re telling me that you allowed Lucifer to possess you, and then took back control over your body? You forced an Archangel, one of the most powerful beings in creation, to whom you had willingly given access to your body, to give up control of your body?”

Sam nodded.

Gabriel whistled. “Damn kiddo, that’s impressive. If you’d asked me a minute ago, I’d have said it was impossible. And then Cassie pulled you out of the pit, huh? Where is little Cassie, anyway? Last I remember, he was always hanging around you two like an overeager puppy dog.”

“I’m gonna go get food,” Dean said, suddenly. He snatched his coat off the table, asking, “Chinese alright, Sammy?” He didn’t wait for an answer before leaving the room. Sam heard the Impala start out in the motel parking lot.

“What’s his problem?” Gabriel asked Sam.

Sam sighed, long and deep and weary. “We stopped the apocalypse, but no one ever talks about what happens after. It’s always cut scene, fade to black, and swell the music. It’s just assumed that things will be fine, afterwards. But it wasn’t fine. I came back, sure, but I didn’t come back _right_. I wasn’t sleeping and I couldn’t feel things anymore. Where there was supposed to be emotion, there was just…nothing. Found out later, from Cas, that he’d brought me back without my soul.”

“Really? But what’s that got to do with Dean practiacally running away when I brought up little bro?” Gabriel continued, “I mean, Cas botching your resurrection doesn’t seem like it could cause that sort of a reaction.”

“I’m getting to that.” Sam paused for a moment while he tried to figure out how to explain what had happened. “With Michael gone from Heaven, there was a civil war. It was Raphael and his followers against Castiel and his followers. In order to try and get the upper hand, Cas started working with Crowley to crack open Purgatory. The agreement was that they would split the souls between them. Obviously, Dean and I weren’t too happy to find out Cas’d been working with Crowley all along and hadn’t told us anything. Dean took it pretty hard, that Cas was working with the enemy, especially after he knocked my wall down –“

“Your…wall?”

“Oh, um, when Dean made a deal with Death to get my soul back, Death put up a wall in my head, so I couldn’t remember what had happened to me in Hell.”

“And Cas, my little bro, he knocked it down? It’s not there anymore?” Gabriel seemed alarmed.

“Yeah, but anyway –“

“How are you still talking and walking? How are you anything other than a complete gibbering mess on the floor?”

Sam ran a hand through his hair and gave Gabriel a faint smile. “I guess I’m just lucky like that. Anyway, Dean still isn’t over Cas betraying us to work with Crowley. He took what happened after pretty hard too. Basically, Cas ended up double crossing Crowley, absorbed all of the souls from Purgatory, and became the new God. Killed Raphael and a bunch of other angels too, and went around trying to get people to bow down and worship him, he killed them if they didn’t cooperate. It turns out having all those souls inside him was killing him, and we got him to send them back. Thing is, he didn’t just absorb souls from Purgatory. He absorbed something else as well, and it took over.”

“Oh Hells no,” whispered Gabriel, almost to himself.

“These things from Purgatory, they were called Leviathan. The Leviathans ended up wading Cas into this reservoir, and then he sort of…exploded, I think. This black stuff spread through the water, and Cas’s trench coat washed up on the shore. Dean still has it, actually. He carries that trench coat around like a security blanket.”

Gabriel ran a hand through his hair and sat, unmoving, eyes fixed on nothing. Then he clapped his hands together. “Well it’s a damn good thing I came back, because without me you bozos would be completely, one hundred percent screwed.”

Dean, who had opened the door just in time to hear Gabriel’s pronouncement, scoffed. “Yeah, right. We stopped the apocalypse without your help, I think we can manage to stop a couple of monsters without your help, too.”

“Hah! That’s what you think. Tell me, Deano, have you guys actually managed to find anything that _can_ kill them yet?” Gabriel asked, a smirk evident on his face.

“No, we haven’t. Not yet, anyway,” Sam answered, quickly, before Dean could start an argument.

Gabriel continued to smirk. “And you won’t. There are exactly two ways those sons of bitches can be killed. One, a killing blow from the true sword of an archangel. Two, a killing blow from one of the four Bound weapons.”

“The four Bound weapons?”

“I’m getting there, Sambo. Each one of the archangels has one. They can’t actually be wielded by the archangel who owns them. The Bound weapon of an archangel can only be wielded by a human marked with the sigil of the corresponding angel. For instance, someone with my sigil could wield my Bound weapon, but not Michael’s. See, a long time ago, when angels still interacted with humans, it wasn’t uncommon for an angel to mark a human with their sigil. The human and the angel would then be bondmates. The Bound weapons came about for the bondmates of the archangels because anything that had a beef with a regular angel would just take it up with that angel, but because us archangels are so frightening and all, they’d go after our bondmate instead. Our Father saw this happening, and created the Bound weapons so that our bondmates would have a better chance at protecting themselves. But the history lesson isn’t really all that important. Seeing as Michael and Lucifer are trapped in the Cage, and Raphael is busy being dead, there are two people in this world who can kill the Leviathan. Me, and whatever human I mark with my sigil and give my Bound weapon to. On second thought, since I haven’t marked anyone, there is exactly one person in this entire world that can kill the Leviathan: me.”

Silence greeted Gabriel’s pronouncement. Neither of the Winchesters seemed sure of what to say about the information that their only hope of defeating the Leviathan lay in an irresponsible archangel-turned-pagan-god.

“This bondmates thing, what does that mean?” Sam finally asked, hesitantly.

“Whadda ya mean?”

“I mean, you said that you mark them with your sigil. Is that it? Does it just mean that you get a new tattoo, or is it, um, something more?”

Gabriel gave a long, low whistle. “I knew you were clever, kiddo, but damn, I didn’t expect even you to get there so quickly.”

“What do you mean ‘there’?” asked Dean.

“Well, you see Deano, this bondmate thing isn’t just you getting a cool weapon and a nifty new tat. Basically, you’re forming a connection between the soul of the human and the grace of the angel. There are…consequences. An angel only ever has one bondmate in their lifetime, because the bond lasts forever. It can’t be removed or undone. Even after death, the human stays with their bondmate, albeit in soul form, unless of course the angel is strong enough to make them a new body. The two are able to read each other’s minds, to some extent, because of the bond between them. This isn’t just some pretty new toy. It’s a commitment. And a damn long one, I’d like to remind you.”

Dean folded his arms across his chest and looked at Gabriel suspiciously. “Well you’re gonna have to get someone else to do it,” he said. “I’m not gonna have anything to do with that. It sounds sketchy as hell, and believe me, I’d know. I don’t trust you, and I don’t like you.”

“Oh I’m just so _heartbroken_ , how will I _ever_ manage to _go on_?” Gabriel mock wailed, then went on to add, “I wasn’t going to ask you anyway, douchebag. I was going to ask Sam.”

“Me?” Sam asked in surprise.

“No, the other guy named Sam. Yes, you.”

“Why…why me?”

Gabriel smiled at Sam, and for once it didn’t look mocking. It looked almost gentle. “Sam, you have proven yourself more than capable of handling the amounts of power that will be involved in the binding. You’ve also proven yourself as a fighter, and you’ve had some experience being psychic, which will help you adjust to the mental parts of the bond more easily. Trust me, you’re the best person for this by a mile.”

Gabriel winked at him. “Plus,” he added, “I like you. You’re interesting.”

“I…I, um…that’s-”

“Sam,” Dean barked. “You can’t be seriously considering this. Have you forgotten that he’s the _trickster_? Do you really want to start working with another sketchy supernatural creature? Really? Did you learn nothing from last time? Do I need to lay out everything that went wrong with Ruby?”

“Do I need to remind you about trusting Cas and giving him the benefit of the doubt, Dean? Do I?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dean all but snarled.

Sam got up from the bed and stalked across the room to grab his jacket. “I’m going for a walk,” he announced.

“What? Now? I think we’re a little busy discussing Gabriel’s plans to make you his bitch, _forever_.”

“I just…I need to think about things, okay?”

“Where are you going?” demanded Dean.

“For a walk,” Sam repeated.

“Where?”

“Anywhere that isn’t here!” Sam hissed, and walked out the door looking very much like he wanted to run out of it.

“Well done,” said Gabriel, the sarcasm in his voice nearly tangible, and vanished from the room with a snap of his fingers.

Dean buried his face in his hands.

***

Sam was sitting on a bench in an empty park when Gabriel appeared next to him, soundlessly.

“All the other angels, they make noise when they appear.”

Gabriel smiled. “Yeah, well I’m not like all the other angels, am I?”

Sam dipped his head, hair swinging forward around his face to hide his smile. “No, you’re really not,” he agreed.

They sat in silence for a few moments, watching the river flow past them.

“What if he’s right? Dean, I mean,” Sam said bluntly. “Maybe I really shouldn’t be considering this. After all, you helped us out at Elysian Fields but before that you…well. But if this really is our only chance to kill these creatures, isn’t it selfish of me not to? But what if I’m wrong? My judgment isn’t always great when it comes to supernatural creatures offering help. I don’t want this to be Ruby all over again. Except this could save us, save the world, how can I not? Shouldn’t I-”

“Sam,” Gabriel interrupted, “I won’t force you to do this, if you don’t want it. This bond _cannot_ be forced, both participants have to be willing. And as for my motives,” he smiled an odd little smile. “Dying tends to change your perspective on things. I’ll never really be a proper angel again, but I won’t be throwing myself so headlong into paganism that I forget what I am.”

Once more, the two of them sat in silence.

“Doesn’t it bother you,” Sam seemed to be choosing his words carefully, “that I’m an abomination?”

Gabriel tilted his head, and Sam figured it must be an angel thing, because Castiel made the exact same gesture. He wondered, briefly, if it had a more obvious meaning in an angel’s true form.

“Abomination?” He seemed genuinely confused. “I know you Winchesters are prone to self-loathing, but that seems like a bit much, even for you.”

Sam looked down at the ground and smiled, but it was tired and sad. “Cas called me that once, and it kinda stuck. He didn’t mean to, he was drunk out of his mind, and he only said what they all think. All of the angels, I mean. They call me a monster and an abomination, the boy with the demon blood. I’m Lucifer’s true vessel, for fuck’s sake. Who wouldn’t think that I’m an abomination?”

“Sam, look at me.”

Sam didn’t move.

Gabriel reached out and put his hand on the side of Sam’s face, drawing his face up so Sam was looking directly at him.

“Listen to me, Sammy. You are not an abomination or a monster.”

Gabriel smiled at him and ran his thumb over Sam’s cheek before dropping his hand and sitting back.

“And for the record,” he continued. “I’m not convinced that the Heavenly Posse is any better than Lucifer. I know that most humans romanticize angels to such a degree that it’s probably unhealthy, but I’d think that you’d know better. I mean, yeah, Lucifer wanted to kill everyone and bring about Hell on Earth, but their Paradise on Earth also involved killing everyone on the planet. So really, in the end, the only difference between Heaven and Hell was that Heaven had a better PR team. That’s it.”

Sam almost looked amused. “I should have realized that you might not have a very ‘sunshine and rainbows’ view of Heaven,” he admitted. “It makes sense.”

Gabriel snorted. “Yeah, it’s not like I ran away because I didn’t like the food.” He looked more serious. “I really meant what I said, Sam. I don’t want you to feel like you have to be bonded with me just to save the world. If it really bothers you, I can go it solo until I find someone else. Someone willing.”

“Thank you,” Sam whispered.

“Aw, you don’t have to thank me. I’m looking out for myself here, too. I don’t want to spend the rest of eternity stuck with someone who can’t stand me.”

“I, uh, can see why that might suck,” Sam replied.

“It really does, believe you me. Right, I assume you’re gonna want some time to think about this by yourself?”

“Yeah, that’d be…nice.”

“Then I’ll see you later, Samster,” Gabriel said, and vanished.

Sam was once again alone on the park bench, watching the river flow past.

***

Sam stood outside the door to the motel room, staring at the doorknob. He’d been at it for the past ten minutes, and thought, _I’ll still remember what this goddamn doorknob looks like when I’m 80. If I ever_ am _80\. Whatever._

He didn’t stop staring at the doorknob.

_What’s the worst that could happen, really? It’s not like Dean’ll stop speaking to me if I say “yes”. Well, he might, but it’d only be for a bit. And if Dean isn’t talking to me, I’ll probably get more research done, so that’s actually probably a plus, all things considered._

Sam willed himself to reach for the doorknob. His hand didn’t move.

_Or maybe Dean will think Gabriel’s put some sort of mind-whammy on me, and go completely crazy, and try to kill him, and then I’ll have to convince Gabriel that he really shouldn’t kill Dean, I mean, how would I even do that? Use my “puppy dog eyes”, which Dean seems to think will get anyone to do anything for me, on him? If it actually works, Dean’ll tease me about “being the girl in the relationship” for_ years _. Or maybe Dean will think I’ve gone completely darkside and never speak to me again or maybe he’ll try and hunt me down ‘cause he’ll think I’m some sort of monster or maybe…_

He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked off towards the nearest diner. He wasn’t stalling or anything, he just needed some coffee. No stalling, just coffee. Just coffee.

***

Sam was on his third cup of coffee when a woman, probably a retiree going by her looks, sat down in the seat across from him.

“How you doin’, Sammy? And your brother? How’s Dean gettin’ on now he’s missin’ his lil’ pet angel?” she asked him without preamble.

Sam stiffened. “What are you? How do you know our names?”

She smiled at him; he saw that her teeth were filed into fussy little points. Her eyes changed, dishwater grey spread over them until there was no distinguishing the white from the iris, and the pupils changed into horizontal rectangles.

“Samuel! Askin’ someone what they are! Were you raised in a barn?” she sniffed disdainfully. “But I suppose I know what you were tryin’ to say. As for _who_ I am, I am one of the Leviathan. And I know your names because I know everything about you two boys that was rattlin’ around in the head of that pet angel of yours. Now, where is your delightful brother? I am not uncivilized; I will let the two of you say goodbye before I kill y’all.”

“Dean’s not here.”

The woman pursed her lips. “Well, that does make things a bit more complicated, but it’s nothing that can’t be dealt with.” She stood and called to the rest of the coffee shop, “This man here, he is a dangerous criminal. His brother, who is a murder, is still on the loose. If any of you see Dean Winchester, you should call the office of Senator Josiah Marcus and let him know immediately.”

Sam heard the voice of a sweet southern lady, but he also heard hissing, in what almost sounded like another language, twining around it.

“Shouldn’t we call the police? If they’re, you know, dangerous?” asked a woman at the front of the crowd.

“Not for these two,” the Leviathan replied, and Sam thought the hissing under her words sounded louder.

The woman’s face went slack and her eyes glazed over. “Yes,” she almost whispered, “they’re very dangerous. Call the senator.”

“Call the senator,” agreed the Leviathan. Then she turned to face Sam. “Well, if your lovely brother isn’t here, then I needn’t wait for the two of you to say your goodbyes before I devour you. I’m going to need a snack to keep my strength up while I look for darling Dean, after all.”

She opened her mouth, and it kept opening long past when a human mouth could; her jaw unhinged and extended.

Sam slammed his eyes shut, desperately praying, _Please Gabriel, please I need you, right now, I’m at the Sunshine Diner, please_ and he felt something grab his shoulder. There was a loud, angry hissing, and then Sam felt himself vanish from the coffee shop.

***

Sam and Gabriel appeared back in the motel room and startled Dean, who had been sitting at the table having a beer.

“Jesus Christ!” he yelled, spilling his beer over the table.

“Close, but not quite,” Gabriel said, sounding bemused.

“Dean, the Leviathan are here. We have to go, _now_ ,” Sam interrupted before they could get anymore off topic.

“Shit! How’d they find us?” Dean asked as he started jamming clothes and weapons into his bag.

“I don’t know. But she said that the Leviathan know everything about us that Cas knew. Maybe they guessed? I really don’t know, but the how of it isn’t important right now. We can worry about it once we’re on the road away from here,” Sam answered as he swung his bag over his shoulder and headed out to the Impala, followed by Gabriel.

Dean grabbed his bag, sent one last glance around the motel room to ensure they hadn’t forgotten anything, and then walked out the door after his brother and the angel.

Gabriel was sitting in the backseat of the Impala, directly behind Sam. Dean grunted with something that wasn’t quite approval, but was close enough, as he got into the driver’s seat. _At least the bastard hadn’t tried to sit in the front seat,_ Dean thought.

There was silence in the car until they were well on their way out of town, doing 80 down the highway. Finally, Sam spoke.

“The Leviathan, they’re more dangerous than we thought, Dean.”

Dean laughed. “I really don’t think that’s possible. We saw them…you know. With Cas. And you know how hard he is to…well.”

“It’s not that. They can – sort of – mind-whammy people. The Leviathan, she was talking to these people in the coffee shop, and her voice sounded weird. I can’t really describe it. It was like, she was talking, but something else was talking, no, _hissing_ at the same time. She got these people to believe her just by talking to them. It was like she had hypnotized them. And she mentioned a Senator. This is bigger than we thought, Dean. This is really big.”

Gabriel leaned forward. “Do you remember the name of this Senator?”

Sam nodded. “It was Josiah Marcus.”

“I’ll see what I can find out about Senator Marcus. I’ll come find you guys when I’m done.”

“Wait!” Sam called just as Gabriel was about to snap away. “How will you find us once you’ve done it? Cas put sigils on our ribs so that angels couldn’t track us.”

Gabriel smirked. “I may not be able to track you two, but I can track your car. And wherever it is, you two are never very far away. See ya later, Samsquatch.” He winked and vanished.

“So,” Dean said as soon as Gabriel was gone, “are you going to agree to this scheme of Gabriel’s?”

Sam looked at Dean, thoughts racing. _If I say yes, he’ll freak out. Like serious, hardcore, over-the-edge freak out. But I am considering it, and I’m really leaning towards yes, so I can’t say I’m not. Shit, shit, what do I tell him?_

“Maybe,” Sam answered, cautiously.

Dean sighed. “I’m not saying I like it, Sammy. And I’m not saying I’m gonna be all buddy-buddy with the guy. But if this is gonna be as bad as it seems, then we’re gonna need all the help we can get. And I’m assuming that he saved you from the Leviathans back there?”

Sam nodded.

“Well I suppose that gets him on his way into my good books, then. If you’re gonna do it, then do it. But if you think you’re gonna regret it, bail while you still can, ‘cause this thing sounds pretty damn permanent to me.”

“Thanks, Dean. And could you, maybe, try not to fight so much with him? He is on our side, after all.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever, bitch.”

“Jerk.”

“Seriously, Sammy, have you decided yet?”

Sam leaned his head against the window. “No,” he admitted quietly, “not yet.”

***

Gabriel appeared suddenly in their new motel room about an hour after they had arrived, and were busy debating over where to go for a food run.

“I dunno, I think wings sound really good right now.”

“Dean, we had wings two days ago. What’s wrong with Thai food?”

“There’s nothing _wrong_ with Thai food, I just want wings.”

“But you had them two days ago!”

“And here we see two hunters, engaged in a desperate confrontation over the night’s dinner. The older one can claim authority, as he is the eldest, but the younger has logic on his side.” Gabriel said in a voice reminiscent of a nature documentary narrator. “Who will win this epic argument?”

“What did you find out about our mystery senator?” Sam asked, turning to face him and choosing to ignore his ramblings.

“You’re not gonna believe this. So Senator Marcus here, he was a small time senator from Bumfuck, Wyoming, never really did anything interesting, until about a week ago. Then, things start to happen. There are rumors that senate interns would go into his office and never be seen again. Which makes sense, once you know he’s a Leviathan.”

“Why does that make sense?” asked Sam.

“The Leviathan are always hungry. That’s part of why Dad shipped them off to Purgatory. They couldn’t stop eating. Anything living that crossed their path was fair game.”

“You mean, he’s _eating_ the interns?” asked Dean in disgust.

“Yup. Dunno why it’s only the interns though. Maybe the young ones are tenderer?”

“Those poor kids!”

“Yeah, Samich, I know. Before I left, I tried to spread the rumors about him around to every intern I could find. Hopefully they’ll try and avoid him. But the missing interns were only a part of it. Senator Marcus recently sponsored a piece of legislation I think you two will find _very_ interesting. The bill proposes the introduction of a specific ingredient into all processed or premade food, under the guise that it will help promote nutrition and weight loss. But it doesn’t do any of that. It actually makes people _gain_ weight, no matter how much they exercise. And the kicker? It messes with brain chemistry just enough to make people more vulnerable to certain types of psychic influence, namely the type used by the Leviathan to get people to go all zombie.”

“Shit,” Sam whispered. “Does it look like it’s going to pass?”

Gabriel laughed. “Of course it’s going to pass. He’s a _Leviathan_ , Samalam. All he needs to do to get the votes he needs is talk to people.”

“Why didn’t you off him?” Dean demanded, suddenly. “You said one of the weapons that can kill a Leviathan is an Archangel’s true sword or whatever. So why didn’t you use yours to kill that son of a bitch?”

Gabriel gave Dean a long, searching look before he finally said, “I haven’t got my sword.”

“What do you mean you haven’t got it? Did you loan it to a friend? Lose it while drunk? Shove it so far up your own ass you can’t get it out? What?”

“I mean,” Gabriel said, slowly and coldly, “that I don’t have it with me right now. It is currently hidden in Heaven.”

“Why would you hide your most powerful weapon? That’s pretty fuckin’ stupid, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask you, did I?”

“Gabriel! Dean! Stop it, both of you. Dean, calm down and let Gabriel explain. Gabriel, please _attempt_ not to antagonize Dean.” Sam sounded exasperated.

“As I was saying,” Gabriel paused to send Dean a nasty look, “I don’t have my sword with me because it’s hidden in Heaven. If I pick it up, it’s gonna broadcast ‘The Archangel Gabriel is back, bitches’ on every supernatural frequency there is. Every single demon, angel, and Leviathan these is will know that I’m back. That’s also why I locked up my Bound weapon and hid the keys. I needed to be sure no one could find me, so keeping a couple of weapons that would announce what I was to the entire world seemed like a bad idea. ”

Dean grudgingly nodded in agreement.

“What did you mean by the whole ‘keys’ thing?” asked Sam.

Gabriel sighed. “The vault my Bound weapon is in, I wanted it to be secure. There’s no getting into it unless you have the four keys, which I scattered across the world. A couple of them I hid; a couple of them I left with trusted friends.”

“ _You_ have _friends_?” interrupted Dean.

“As shocking as it may sound, yes, I do have friends. And they’re still alive too, which is more than you can say.”

“Gabriel!” Sam hissed.

“Come on kiddo, you know it’s true.”

Sam ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. “So you’re telling me that I do agree to be your bondmate, as soon as I pick up the weapon, there’ll be things coming at me from all sides?”

“No. They’re meant to protect their wielders, not make them targets. The reason I hid my Bound Weapon wasn’t because it would let all the angels and demons and such know where I was. It’s got a distinctive look that someone could’ve recognized, and it was useless to me as a weapon anyway. Also, I,” Gabriel clenched his hands together, “wanted to forget. I didn’t want to remember what I was, and that Bound Weapon was a big fat reminder.”

Gabriel forced a smile. “But, anyway, the important thing is that wielding the Bound Weapon won’t bring legions down on your head.”

“I’m gonna go get food. And sorry, Sammy, but I claim authority, so we’re having wings. You two have fun! Try not to be in any positions that will scar me for life when I get back!” Dean winked conspicuously at Sam as he walked out the door.

Sam blushed crimson. _Jesus Christ Dean, I’m going to be talking to Gabriel about being bound to him, not having sex with him!_

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Is there something I ought to know?”

“Dean likes to make things as awkward as possible for me at all times. Don’t take it personally. So this bond thing…if I say yes, what happens next?”

“Well, first, we’ll have to perform the actual binding ritual. Don’t worry, it’s nothing that might offend your delicate sensibilities. A few ritual words, a small drink of potion, and we’re done.”

“That’s comforting to hear,” Sam admitted.

“I thought it might be. And as an added bonus, it’ll fix your head up. No more visions of Lucifer.”

“How did you know I was seeing Lucifer?” demanded Sam.

“Sam,” Gabriel said, gently, “your head’s kinda messed up right now. You’re projecting really, really loudly, but it doesn’t seem to be on purpose. I can feel Lucifer twisting through your thoughts, hell, I can practically hear him talking out loud. If you go through with the bonding ritual, that’ll stop, because the bond will destroy any other angelic influences.”

“And if I don’t?” Sam whispered.

“Then I’ll do my best to fix your head. I can’t give any guarantees about effectiveness, but I’ll give it everything I got. I won’t abandon you to Lucifer’s influence, I promise.”

Sam looked at Gabriel, eyes filled with tears. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you, thank you, _thank_ you.”

Gabriel moved so he was sitting next to Sam on the motel bed, and elbowed him gently. “Hey kiddo, you don’t have to thank me. Anyway, after that, we’ll head out, grab the keys to the vault, get the Bound weapon, go retrieve my sword from Heaven, and then go remind the Leviathan that this isn’t their world. Sound good?”

“Sounds…interesting.”

“Come on Sam, if I’m involved in any way, shape, or form, you can bet your ass it’s gonna be interesting. I don’t _do_ boring.”

Sam laughed, then turned serious. “Are we really going to do this?” he asked.

“Only if you want to, Sam.”

“I do. I want to do this. Let’s do this.”

Gabriel’s eyes searched Sam’s face for a long moment. “Alright,” he finally said. “Then let’s do this. But it’ll have to wait a second, because I need to grab some stuff for the ritual.”

“That’s good. We have to wait for Dean to get back, anyway. I’m not going to surprise him with this when he gets back from the food run.”

“Oh Father,” Gabriel said, his eyes widening in horror, “I don’t even want to think about how Dean would react to finding out his little brother had gone and gotten hitched to an Archangel while he was out buying wings. I have no desire to be on the receiving end of whatever revenge he would devise for that.”

Sam laughed. “Trust me, I don’t want to be on the receiving end of the inevitable lecture if I went and did that.”

They sat in silence for a moment, before Gabriel reached over to brush his hand over Sam’s cheek. “I really am glad you agreed to this,” he said with utter sincerity, and vanished.

***

Gabriel still wasn’t back by the time Dean returned to the room holding a large, greasy bag of chicken wings.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” he asked. “Did you piss him off or something?”

Sam felt his face form the expression Dean insisted upon referring to as “bitchface”.

“He’s _not_ my boyfriend. And I didn’t piss him off.”

“Then where is he?”

“He, uh, went to get some stuff. For the, uh, binding ritual,” Sam mumbled.

“So you’re really gonna do it, then. Jesus, thanks for the warning, Sammy. I suppose I should be glad that you didn’t just elope without telling me, but damn, warn a guy.”

“We’re not getting _married_ , Dean.”

Dean nodded his head and said, “Whatever you say, Sammy,” in the most condescending tone he could muster.

“Dean!”

He laughed and put his hands up. “Sorry, sorry. When’s Gabriel going to be back, anyway?”

Sam shrugged. “He said it wouldn’t take him long.”

Just then, Gabriel appeared in the middle of the room, holding a bulging shopping bag.

“Speak of the Devil,” muttered Dean under his breath, so Sam and Gabriel wouldn’t hear him.

“Are you still up for this, Sam?” Gabriel asked.

Sam nodded.

Gabriel pulled three water bottles – two of which were half filled with what appeared to be some sort of watered-down wine, one completely filled with an unidentifiable dark liquid – a length of yellow-gold ribbon from his bag, and set them on the table. He cocked his head to the side for a moment, considering something, then snapped his fingers. A silver mixing bowl appeared on the table.

“C’mere, Sam,” he called. “You’re going to have to help me with this.”

Sam moved so he was standing next to Gabriel, and saw that Dean had moved to stand on the side of the table opposite from them.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

“Drink this,” Gabriel responded, handing him one of the water bottles. “It’s a purifying mixture, made of rosemary, sage, angelica, and juniper ground and mixed with filtered and purified water and a tiny bit of wine.” He grabbed the second water bottle that contained the mixture. “Bottoms up,” he said, smiling, and then tipped it back and drank.

Sam followed suit, draining the bottle in three gulps, grimacing. The watered down wine tasted strange and the herbs didn’t help.

Gabriel tossed his empty bottle on the table, grabbed the ribbon, coiled it in the mixing bowl, and then poured the mixture from the final bottle into the bowl.

“Watch what I do, cause you’re gonna have to do something similar,” he told Sam. Gabriel stuck his right hand into the bowl, swirled it around three times clockwise, and said, “I, Gabriel, do swear that it is my intent to bind myself to the human Samuel Winchester.” He withdrew his hand from the bowl.

“Your turn, Sam. You do everything the same as me, just swap the names around.”

Sam nodded and stuck his hand in the bowl, swirling it around three times. “I, Samuel Winchester, do swear that it is my intent to bind myself to the Archangel Gabriel.” He held his hand up, careful not to let the liquid drip off it and onto the ground. “What now?”

Gabriel held out his hand. “Take my right hand in your right hand,” he instructed Sam.

Sam reached out and grasped Gabriel’s hand.

“Awwww look at them holding hands,” Dean said to no one in particular.

Sam sent a bitchface Dean’s way. Gabriel contented himself with rolling his eyes.

“Now reach into the bowl with your left hand and grab one end of the ribbon.”

Sam did as he was instructed, and was surprised to see that the ribbon came free of the bowl perfectly clean. “What’s the liquid for?” he asked.

“It has a couple of different purposes,” Gabriel answered. “Harmony, protection, and purification, mostly. The ribbon is for joining and unity.” He held up the other end of the ribbon. “Wrap the ribbon around our hands three times, starting where our hands join and winding down to your wrist. Once you get to your wrist, wrap it three times again but back in the other direction. Got it?”

“I think so. Start at the center, three times down to my wrist, three times back?”

“You got it. Then we knot the two ends of the ribbon together.”

Sam nodded, and they both wound the ribbon around their clasped hands. Once they had made it back to the middle, they double knotted the ribbon.

“Just repeat after me. I, Samuel Winchester, do swear myself to Gabriel, and accept his swearing himself to me in turn.”

“I, Samuel Winchester, do swear myself to Gabriel, and accept his swearing himself to me in turn.”

“I swear that we shall be equals in all things. This I do swear.”

“I swear that we shall be equals in all things. This I do swear.” Sam noticed that the ribbon wrapped around their hands was starting to glow faintly.

“I swear that we shall be bound to one another for better and for worse, in pleasure and in pain, in triumph and in trial. This I do swear.”

“I swear that we shall be bound to one another for better and for worse, in pleasure and in pain, in triumph and in trial. This I do swear.” The ribbon was glowing brighter and starting to get warm.

“Until all that is ceases to be, this I do swear.”

“Until all that is ceases to be, this I do swear.”

Gabriel took a deep breath. “I, Gabriel, do swear myself to Samuel Winchester, and accept his swearing himself to me in turn. I swear that we shall be equals in all things. This I do swear. I swear that we shall be bound to one another for better and for worse, in pleasure and in pain, in triumph and in trial. This I do swear. Until all that is ceases to be, this I do swear.”

With Gabriel’s last word, Sam felt the ribbon tighten around their hands and saw it begin to glow brighter and brighter. “Both of you, cover your eyes!” Gabriel yelled.

Sam slammed his eyes shut, and turned his head away, but he could still see the massive flash of light through his closed lids, and felt warmth sink into his hand and spread throughout his body. Once it had passed, he carefully opened his eyes.

He was standing, still holding Gabriel’s hand, in a motel room that looked no different than it had moments before, but, in some indescribable way, felt almost completely different. Dean opened his eyes and looked around, as if he, too, could sense the change in the carefully woven and mended fabric of their lives. The only noticeable difference was that the ribbon binding his hand to Gabriel’s had vanished. In its place, he and Gabriel had tiny matching tattoos done lightly in faint golden lines. They depicted a tiny sun surrounded by a pair of wings, with a tiny Enochian character in the center of the sun. The tattoos were small and subtle enough that no one would notice them unless they were looking for them.

“Is that it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Gabriel said, “that’s it. The ceremony itself is pretty simple, all things considered.” He let go of Sam’s hand. Sam wished he hadn’t.

“My little Sammy got married,” Dean fake wailed. “My baby’s growing up.”

“Dean! We’re not married!”

Dean threw his arm around Sam’s shoulders and laughed. “Sure you aren’t. C’mon, I saw a bar a block or two away. Let’s go get a beer and celebrate. And I guess your new husband can come too.”

“He’s not my…” Sam gave up. There was no point in saying it, Dean would just ignore him.

“Oh thank you ever so much for deigning yourself enough to invite me,” Gabriel said, all sarcasm.

Sam groaned and looked longingly at his laptop as Dean dragged him out of the door. He didn’t want to spend the evening at a bar watching Dean flirt with women and give Gabriel the stink eye. He just wanted to curl up in bed with his laptop and maybe Gabriel…

Sam mentally shook himself. He did _not_ just think that! _It’s just because Dean was joking about us being married_ , he told himself. _I don’t actually think about Gabriel like that._

With Sam busy being caught up in his own thoughts, and Dean with dragging his reluctant brother out the door, only Gabriel noticed that Sam’s laptop moved from its place at the center of the table almost the edge, like it was trying to follow Sam out the door.

“Interesting,” said Gabriel, quietly. “ _Very_ interesting.”

***

Sam moaned. He was lying on his stomach in bed, neck twisted just enough so his face wasn’t shoved directly into the pillow, and his head _hurt_. The droning car noise that emanated from the road outside the hotel made him feel like someone was running a sander across his brain. He was also convinced that, somehow, light had become solid because every time he opened his eyes he felt like the light was stabbing straight through his pupils, down his optic nerves, and straight into his brain. He wondered if there was a way to kill himself that didn’t require any movement. Sam was _very_ sure that moving would be an awful idea right about now.

_Why did I let Dean convince me to drink so much last night?_ he whined.

He felt something underneath his arm move, and wondered if there was someone else in the bed with him. The moving and massive amounts of heat that emanated from the other side of the bed seemed to suggest that there was. He doubted that the other person was Dean, though, because whenever they had shared a bed Dean always managed to take up way more space than he needed, and Sam always ended up crammed right up on the edge, nearly falling off. So. A stranger in his bed. He was pretty sure that was worth opening his eyes for, light daggers or not.

Sam slowly cracked his eyelids open and managed it for just long enough to see that the other person in his bed was looking at him before he had to shut his eyes again. He let out another moan, quieter this time.

“Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakens,” said the person next to him.

Sam’s barely functioning brain managed to get its shit together long enough to recognize that the voice belonged to Gabriel. It did not, however, supply an explanation as to why Gabriel was _in his bed_. Gabriel. In his bed.

Sam attempted to ask Gabriel what he, Gabriel, was doing in his bed, but all he could get out was, “Whaaa you’re do?”

Gabriel chuckled, and even though the sound was like a hail of bullets right next to Sam’s poor ears, he could tell it was amused.

“Do you want me to take away your headache?”

Sam didn’t trust his voice, so he just nodded in a way that felt pathetic to him even in his miserable state. He felt a hand ghost across his forehead, and his head stopped pounding. He cautiously opened one eye, and when the light daggers failed to assault him, opened his other as well. He blinked a bit, looking around curiously.

“What, exactly, happened last night?” he finally asked.

Gabriel snorted. “You and Dean got drunker than I thought was possible. Dean sang karaoke. It was terrible. You giggled. A lot. And I seriously mean giggled. Like full on, bubbly giggles. It was actually kind of adorable.”

Sam closed his eyes in horror. “You’re lying,” he said desperately. “You have to be lying.”

“Nope. I’ve got it right here, recorded on my phone,” Gabriel said. Sam swore he could feel the smugness and amusement radiating off him.

“Well, you can.”

Sam sat up so quickly he almost fell off the bed. “What?”

Gabriel remained where he was, lying sprawled out on the bed. Sam got the feeling that he was slightly annoyed, but not at his question. It was something…something…about the…removal…of…

“Whoa there wonderboy, slow down!”

“Huh?”

“Samski, you gotta take this thing slow. I know you’ve had some experience with psychic abilities, but you were precog, right? I don’t remember ever hearing tell of you doing any mindreading.”

“Yeah,” Sam said.

“Mindreading is,” Gabriel paused for a second, as if he were trying to get his thoughts into an order that would make sense, “well, mindreading is different. First things first, you _have_ to have a handle on where your mind begins and ends, so you don’t go around projecting your thoughts all over poor unsuspecting people, or confusing other people’s thoughts for your own. Since this mindreading thing is only between the two of us, the first one isn’t much of a problem, but the second one will be. At first, we really gotta work on keeping our minds separate. Later, it won’t matter so much. But now? Most important thing around.”

 Sam sighed. “Alright,” he said. “What have I got to do?”

“Close your eyes,” Gabriel instructed. “Reach out with your mind. Can you feel me?”

Sam nodded.

“Okay then, can you feel the difference between my mind and yours?”

Sam nodded again. “You’re all…full of light and heat and sound,” he said, slowly. “You feel old,” he added, whispering now. “Old, and too large to comprehend.”

“Can you feel the parts that are you?”

“Yup. They feel, like, well…me.”

“Damn, kiddo, you’re better at this than I thought you’d be.”

Sam shrugged, eyes still closed. “I’ve had practice doing something similar.”

Sam felt movement that indicated Gabriel was now sitting upright, facing him. “Oh?”

“It was when I learned to exorcise demons with my mind,” he admitted, quietly.

Gabriel hmphed. “Useful trick, that,” he said conversationally. “Anyway, to answer the question you weren’t asking – no, we won’t have to do this all the time. You’re better at this than I thought you’d be, so I’m not so worried about how you’ll deal with this. You’ll do fine. We only have to do this now because we’re all tangled up right after the ritual.”

“So, you freaked out for no reason?”

“I did _not_ freak out,” Gabriel replied. “I was taking what I believed to be reasonable precautions at the time. Now shut up so we can get this finished with and go have breakfast.”

Sam’s stomach made an appreciative noise at the notion of breakfast.

“See, Samsquatch, your stomach knows what’s up.”

Sam laughed quietly. “In the name of breakfast, I promise to hurry up after this one question – what did you think would happen? With our minds, after the ritual, I mean.”

“I thought that they would be so tangled together that I’d have to pull them apart myself. I didn’t think you’d be able to really understand what was happening. Getting your mind completely mixed in with someone else’s…it can really mess you up. I wanted to be sure that wouldn’t happen to you. Apparently I needn’t have worried. You know how to touch my mind without losing your own in the process. Now, less talky-talky, more mindey-separatey.”

Sam reached again for the place where he felt his and Gabriel’s minds twined together, and carefully began to pull his mind apart from Gabriel’s. He could, in a way he couldn’t explain, feel Gabriel doing the same thing with his mind.

It didn’t take long for them to finish, and when they did, the sense of connection was still there. Sam could still feel a trickle of Gabriel’s emotions, and if he concentrated hard enough, he could catch brief glimpses of his thoughts. The only difference was that he felt slightly less…blurred. He and Gabriel were connected, yes, but they didn’t overlap. They were two wholly separate people again.

Sam yawned and opened his eyes to find Gabriel’s face inches from his own. Gabriel’s eyes were an unusual golden color, and Sam leaned closer, trying to put a name on it. He stopped, suddenly, realizing just how close his face was to Gabriel’s, and caught a flash of an emotion he couldn’t name across the bond. It felt…warm, and almost sweet, and his eyes flicked, involuntarily, to Gabriel’s lips, wondering if that was what kissing him would be like. Sam blushed and yanked his eyes up to meet Gabriel’s, and he saw in them something that could have been a challenge, a dare, like he knew what Sam was thinking.

“Oh, my god,” came a loud groan from the other bed. “My head. Sammy, please, put me out of my misery. Please.”

Sam sat back up quickly, almost guiltily, and looked over at Dean. “Bad hangover? With how much you drank last night, it serves you right,” he said, unsympathetically.

“You know what would help? Food. Well, food and coffee. I’ll snap some up,” Gabriel offered, then climbed swiftly off the bed and headed toward the table.

Sam sent Dean a frustrated look, then buried his head in his hands.

“What’d you look at me like that for?” Dean asked.

Sam didn’t know.

Gabriel sat down at the table after bringing what looked like a box of doughnuts into existence out of thin air. To Sam’s great annoyance, he looked perfectly composed.

Sam felt anything but. His hair was a mess, he was still wearing pajamas, and he wanted nothing more than to walk up to Gabriel and demand an explanation of what had just happened and why he was feeling whatever it was that he was feeling. He felt almost…disconnected, like there was something super obvious staring him straight in the face but he just couldn’t _see_ it. The bond wasn’t helping either, sending him flashes of Gabriel’s emotions that were too fast and light to comprehend.

Sam would love to sit down with Gabriel and try to figure out what he’s thinking, what he wants, what he actually means by the things he says and does. He also thought he might like to go back and see if they could find the whatever-it-was they had before Dean interrupted them. But Dean was still in the room, awake and mostly functional, and there was no way he was going to go anywhere near that with Dean shoving one of the doughnuts down his throat so fast Sam was beginning to worry that he would choke on it.

“Sam oo’ hav’ ta try t’ese,” Dean said thickly. “‘Ere ‘mazing!”

 “Of course they are. I bought them,” Gabriel added smugly. “Don’t worry, I got you your caffeine fix Sam-a-palooza.”

Sam inhaled deeply, and realized he could smell the coffee. And it smelled wonderful.

“Mmmmmmm,” he hummed, as he got out of bed and headed enthusiastically for the table. Sam picked the coffee cup up with both hands, absorbing the warmth, and inhaled deeply again, practically pressing his nose up against the lid in an attempt to get as much of the smell as possible. He could tell that it was really nice, and probably really expensive coffee, nothing like the swill he was used to getting at gas stations. He took a sip and realized that it was exactly how he liked his coffee, two sugars and one cream.

_How the hell could Gabriel have known how…oh. Right._

Sam concentrated on the happiness the coffee brought him, and the gratitude he felt toward Gabriel for getting it for him, and carefully, as he was unsure if it would work, tried to poke them across the bond to Gabriel. Sam knew he had succeeded when he felt surprise, and something that could have been affection, swirl back down along the bond from Gabriel, and looked up to see Gabriel smile at him.

“Dude! I am in the room! Don’t do that shit while I’m here!” Dean yelled.

“Dean,” Sam sighed, “all I did was thank Gabriel for the coffee. That’s it.”

“Wasn’t what it looked like,” Dean said. “Looked like you two were making goo-goo eyes at each other, if you ask me.”

“Well it’s a good thing that no one asked you, isn’t it?” Gabriel retorted.

“Listen here, shorty, just because I let you get hitched to Sam does not mean I like you, kapeesh?”

“I’m sorry,” said Gabriel, and his voice was silky smooth and completely calm. Sam could feel a slow wave of anger roll through Gabriel’s mind, barely contained. “You _let_ me get hitched to Sam? If I remember correctly, Sam agreed to the bonding, not you. If Sam had said yes, how would you have stopped it?”

The box of doughnuts on the table began to shake ever so slightly.

“Oh believe me, if I’d wanted it stopped, it would have stopped.”

 “Dean, please,” Sam said quietly. “You said you’d try not to fight with him so much.”

Dean seemed to be searching Sam’s eyes for a moment before he said, “Fuck, Sammy, you’re right. Sorry, I just,” he ran a hand through his hair, “Sorry. Having a bad day, is all.”

The box stopped moving.

“A bad day? You just woke up.”

Dean looked sad. “Doesn’t take a lot, sometimes. I’m gonna go grab something out of the Impala, okay?”

Sam nodded. _He’s trying not to cry in front of us,_ he told Gabriel over their bond. _Just let him go. He was probably dreaming about Cas last night._

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent until Dean had left the room. “Is your brother pining for my brother or something?”

“Yes, he is,” Sam said firmly. “But don’t even try and go there with him. He’ll just get upset and defensive. Believe me, I’ve tried to get him to talk about it multiple times.”

Gabriel snorted, and looked like he was about to say something more, but Sam cut him off when he realized that the door was opening. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

“Since you seem to be taking well to the bond, we’ll go after the keys right away.”

Sam stretched, his shirt pulling up in the front just enough to expose a bit of his stomach. “Right,” he said, “I’m going to go shower.” He snagged his duffel off his bed on the way past, then disappeared into the bathroom.

“Could you not ogle my brother while I’m in the room? Thanks,” Dean said to Gabriel.

“I wasn’t ogling your brother,” Gabriel replied.

Dean sat down at the table and snagged another doughnut. “Yeah you were,” he said.

Gabriel pretended not to hear him, and picked up a doughnut.

***

Sam appeared ten minutes later, fully dressed and hair only slightly damp.

“Ready to go?” he asked Gabriel.

“If you are,” Gabriel replied, standing up and stretching.

Sam nodded. “Just let me grab my knife and gun.”

“You think I’m going to take you somewhere dangerous?”

“Nah, just…habit. I feel naked without them now.”

“Where are you taking him?” Dean asked Gabriel.

Sam was a little proud of him, actually. He only sounded _mildly_ suspicious and hostile, compared to the usual tone he used towards Gabriel which was _insanely_ suspicious and hostile.

“We’re off on a whirlwind worldwide tour to get the keys to the vault,” Gabriel answered. “First stop, southwest Colorado, home of my oldest friend: Coyote. After that,” he shrugged. “Well after that, we’ll see where next. There’re four keys, we’ll get all of them eventually.”

Sam slipped the gun and knife into the waistband of his jeans. “Ready,” he announced.

To his surprise, Dean got up from the table and gave him a brief hug. “Try not to get in too much trouble,” he said gruffly.

“Yeah,” Sam said. “I’ll try. Promise.” He turned to Gabriel. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

Gabriel nodded, then turned to look at Dean. “I’ll keep him safe,” he said.

“You better, pipsqueak.”

Gabriel reached up and touched two fingers to Sam’s forehead. There was a sensation almost like he was being yanked backwards, and then everything went black.

***

Sam woke, slowly. His head hurt and he felt groggy. He wasn’t really sure where he was or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was getting ready to leave the motel room with Gabriel, but he seemed to be lying in bed, curled around another body. That didn’t seem quite right, just like the odd sensation he’d had just before everything had gone dark. Sam slowly opened his eyes, flinching at the brightness that seemed to be coming from a lamp that looked strangely familiar. There was also a head lying next to his that looked suspiciously like Gabriel’s.

“Whaa?” he mumbled fuzzily.

“Sammy?” Dean’s voice asked. “You back with me?”

“What, uh,” Sam trailed off. He wasn’t sure what question he should be asking.

“I dunno, man,” Dean told him. “Gabriel touched your forehead which seemed pretty normal, but then you both collapsed. Like full on fainted. It was pretty girly.”

“Why…”

“Are you currently cuddling with Gabriel? Yeah, I thought you might be wondering that. I had you guys in separate beds at first, but you were both being pretty weird. You would mumble each other’s names and you were both super restless, tossing and turning and reaching out like you were trying to find each other. It was freaking me out, dude.”

“But we’re…”

“Not in separate beds now? Yeah, I know, I was getting there. Untwist your panties, Sammy. Anyway, it was freaking me out. It seemed like the two of you were trying to find each other, but couldn’t or something. So I figured you’d calm down if I put you right next to each other, ‘cause then you’d both know that the other was fine. So I dragged you over to the bed Shorty here was in, and dumped you into it. You both calmed down pretty quick. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, man. You’re both freaking out, then I put you in the same bed and as soon as you’re touching each other? Calm as fuck.”

“How long have I been out?”

Dean shrugged. “A few hours, give or take.”

Sam blinked, confusion twisting his features. “That can’t be right,” he said. “I’m starving. I feel like I haven’t eaten in a day or two.”

“There are still some doughnuts left, if you want them.”

“Yeah, yeah I do I feel like I could eat a horse.” Sam started to get up, carefully unwinding his arms from where they were wrapped around Gabriel. He stopped quickly when Gabriel began to stir. “Gabriel?” he asked quietly.

“Sam,” Gabriel mumbled before falling back into what seemed to be a deep sleep. Sam felt Gabriel’s mind brush delicately against his mind, but when he tried to repeat the contact it was like Gabriel was somehow out of reach.

Sam frowned as he got out of bed. For reasons he couldn’t quite explain, the feeling of Gabriel being out of reach made him nervous.

“What’s up, Sam? You look like someone pissed in your cheerios,” Dean called from the table where he was busily demolishing one of the remaining doughnuts.

“I tried to reach Gabriel but I can’t.”

“Aww is little Sammy upset because he can’t talk to his boyfriend?”

“Shut up! It’s not that I can’t talk to him, it’s that his mind just isn’t there. I can’t feel him at all. Dean, I think something might be really wrong.”

Dean looked at Sam for a moment. “Sit down and eat something,” he said, finally. “I don’t know much about this psychic thing of yours, but I figure you can’t be at your best if you feel like you haven’t eaten in a day or two.”

“That, uh, that makes sense actually.”

“Don’t sound so surprised. I’m the older brother, I know things. Plus you mentioned back when you were having your visions and telekinesis and shit that it felt like you were concentrating really hard to make it happen or to see it again. I figure you’re hardly gonna be able to concentrate well if your stomach keeps interrupting you.”

Sam rubbed his face. “You’re right,” he admitted. “If I’m really going to have to reach for Gabriel’s mind, I need to be able to concentrate.” He sent one last look toward the angel sleeping on the bed, then walked over to the table and sat down. “Give me one of the Boston Crèmes.”

“Aw, no, dude, those are my favorite!”

“Sharing, Dean. Do you know what that is?”

As the brothers bickered, one of the blankets slowly, unnoticed by everyone, pulled itself higher up on Gabriel’s sleeping form, carefully tucking itself around him.

***

“Right,” Sam said, standing up and stretching, “let’s do this. I think physical contact might help facilitate the bond. You said that when we were asleep we were both restless until we came into physical contact, correct?”

“Yeah, and did I mention that it was weird as hell?”

Sam gave a long suffering sigh. “Yes Dean, multiple times within the last ten minutes. But that, to me at least, suggests that physical contact will help. So I’m going to try that.”

“Huh, never thought of that. Makes sense, though.”

Sam sat cross-legged on the bed next to Gabriel and grabbed one of his hands. “Gabriel?” he asked softly. “Can you hear me? Because if you can, it’s time to wake up now. Dean and I are kinda worried about you.”

“Well, _he’s_ worried about you. I don’t really care.”

“Dean!” Sam hissed.

“What? It’s true.”

“Please,” Sam added, ignoring Dean and turning back to Gabriel, “Please wake up.”

Gabriel didn’t stir.

“Okay,” Sam said, “gonna have to do this the hard way, then.” He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, feeling for Gabriel’s consciousness. It felt different than it had when he’d touched it before, muted and exhausted.

_Gabriel,_ he called. _Gabriel, it’s Sam. I need you to wake up._

He felt something stir in the depths of Gabriel’s mind, something that seemed to be stretching up to the surface to answer him.

“Maybe you should try naked cuddling. I mean, if contact really does help, then wouldn’t that work the best?”

“Dammit Dean! I almost had it,” Sam yelled. “I was this fucking close, he was almost going to answer me, but you had to open your mouth!”

“Sorry, sorry, get your panties out of a twist. You said you almost had it, so just do it again, Wonderboy. I promise not to say a word.” Dean mimed locking his lips and throwing away the key.

Sam sent him a look that he was sure Dean would term a ‘bitchface’ before he closed his eyes. It was much easier this time to touch Gabriel’s mind. It also felt a little more awake than it had before, and seemed to reach for him when he touched it.

_Gabriel,_ he called out again. _I’m back._

_Sammy, how nice to see you,_ came the languid reply. _This doesn’t feel like Coyote’s place. What gives?_

_I’m, uh, not sure. Apparently, when you tried to zap us off, we both passed out. You’ve been out for something like a few hours now. I’d really like it if you’d wake up properly now._

_Aw, have you missed my scintillating conversation? My delightful personality?_

_I was just, uh, worried._

_Worried about little old me? I’m touched._

Sam blushed, or at least did the mental equivalent. _I, uh, well, you know, uh…do you think you could maybe tell us what happened? Out loud, I mean. Dean’s probably getting impatient._

_Oh and we can’t be having that, now can we? Yes, don’t worry, Samtam, I’m fine._

Sam retreated from Gabriel’s mind and opened his eyes to find Gabriel sitting up and looking at him.

“I really am fine, Sam,” he said sincerely.

“If you’re so fine, then why the hell were you passed out for a couple hours?” Dean asked.

Gabriel pursed his lips. “It was the bond. When I tried to move us, I didn’t have enough power to do it, because most of my power is still tangled up in the bond. I don’t know why,” he added with a frown. “It shouldn’t be.”

“Is that dangerous?” Sam asked.

“It better not be!” Dean barked. “If your fuck up manages to hurt my brother…”

“I know, I know, you’ll hunt me down, blah blah blah. Don’t worry, Deano, it’s perfectly safe. And this guy we’re going to see, Coyote? He’ll probably have answers. Been around just about as long as the angels have, and knows a little bit about everything. As long as I don’t try and use my powers ‘til we’ve got this sorted out, no biggie”

“And if you do try and use your powers?” Sam prompted.

“Then apparently we both take a trip to dreamland. It’s probably good for you, Sammykins, you need the sleep.”

“If you’re too out of juice to snap yourself anywhere, how are you going to get to this Coyote’s place?”

“Well, Deano,” Gabriel said, rubbing his hands together and grinning, “it looks like you’re driving.”

***

Sam wondered if he would survive if he opened the door of the Impala and threw himself out. _Maybe if I roll when I land, my injuries will only require minor hospitalization. I think I can deal with minor hospitalization if it will get me out of this._

Gabriel and Dean were fighting. Again.

“Stop eating candy in my car!” Dean was practically screaming at Gabriel.

“It’s not going to hurt it! Sammy, tell Dean that my candy won’t hurt his precious baby.”

“Sam! Tell your boyfriend to stop eating in my baby! He’s getting crumbs all over the seats, I just know it!”

Sam stared out his window, ignoring them both. _Even if there’s some surgery involved, it would be worth it. Anything to get me out of this. Anything._

***

Through what he would term as great and valiant effort, Sam managed not to throw himself out of the Impala. It was a close thing, though, and when they pulled into a gas station he was more than happy to get out, stretch his legs, and get away from Dean and Gabriel.

Sam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as he walked into the gas station bathroom. His head ached, badly, and he opened his eyes just enough to find the sink and turn it on. He waited a few seconds to be sure that the water would be cold, then splashed it on his face and rubbed it down his neck.

Unfortunately, it didn’t help. If anything, his head hurt more. His vision started to distort, and Sam shut his eyes, hoping that would at least relieve some of the pain and dizziness.

But it didn’t, because even with his eyes closed, Sam didn’t stop seeing. But he wasn’t seeing the bathroom anymore. It was a park, filled with trees, and late at night.

_Sam!_ he heard a voice call in his mind before he was completely swept up by what he now realized was a vision.

***

Gabriel dropped the Snickers bar he was holding and spun around. “Dean!” he yelled. “Dean! It’s Sam. Something…something’s wrong. With Sam. I don’t know…it’s something.”

Dean took off running. He skidded out of the gas station and around to the bathroom, then started banging on the door. “Sammy!” he called. “Sammy, open the door!”

“Get out of the way.”

“What?”

“I said, get out of the way. He’s not answering, so we’re gonna have to break the door down. I can do that, but not if you’re standing in front of it.”

Dean took a deep breath and backed away from the door. “Have at it, then.”

Gabriel held up a hand and blasted the lock open. The door swung inwards and revealed Sam clinging onto the sink for support, eyes clenched shut.

Dean walked up to him and gently brushed a hand over his back. “Sammy? You okay?”

“Fine, Dean. I’m fine.”

“I think it’s pretty clear that you’re not fine. At least, not in the mental sense. In the physically attractive sense, you’re pretty damn fine, that’s true. But I think it was pretty obvious that wasn’t what your brother was asking about,” Gabriel said, stepping up next to Sam.

“Really, dude? Now?” Dean hissed, but Sam gave an unsteady chuckle.

“I’m fine now,” he said. “Honestly. My headache is gone and everything.”

“But you weren’t fine before. I know that, Sam, I could feel it. You can’t pretend you were fine a minute ago.”

“I was just tired. I’d been in the car a long time, and the constant fighting gave me a headache. That’s it.”

“No, it really isn’t. I could feel what you were feeling through the bond, Sam. You were panicked and afraid and in a lot more pain than any simple headache could produce. And there was something else, a park, filled with trees. This is a nasty gas station bathroom, not a park.”

“Shit, Sammy,” Dean whispered, “you seeing things again? Why didn’t you tell me? What’s happening?”

Sam buried his face in his hands. “Because this is the first one, Dean. The first one since we ganked the Yellow Eyed Demon, and I wasn’t sure it was really happening.”

“Then why’d you lie? Why’d you say you were fine?”

“Because I don’t want this to be happening! These visions, Dean, they’re painful and awful and I don’t _want_ them! And I hate the way you look at me when I do, like I’m some sort of…of…freak or monster. Like you’re hearing Dad’s last words all over again, and you’re thinking about whether or not you’re going to have to carry them out! I can’t stand it, Dean.”

“That’s really what you think?” Dean asked.

Sam nodded miserably.

“Shit, Sammy, I didn’t know. I don’t think you’re some sort of freak or anything. And…and forget what Dad said, okay? He didn’t…it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t…I wouldn’t…” Dean trailed off.

“It’s the other hunters, too,” Sam whispered. “Rufus, some others, even Bobby, sometimes. They’ve tried to kill me before, Dean, because of this.”

“You’ve got me too, remember,” Gabriel said quietly, putting a hand on Sam’s arm. “I won’t let them hurt you, no matter what.”

Sam gave a harsh laugh. “And how long before you decide I’m too much of a monstrous freak to be bonded to?”

“Never. Never, Sammy, never. Hell, these visions may even be my fault. When I bound you to me, there was a lot of power involved. There still is. My power may have reawakened your visions. The guy, well god, we’re going to see, Coyote? He’ll be able to answer your questions, and help you with your visions. He’s good with stuff like that.”

“Really?”

“Really. You’ve never had any training for how to control, induce, or anything else to do with your visions, have you?”

Sam shook his head.

“Well he can do some of that. It may even help make them less painful.”

“You mean he wouldn’t practically collapse every time he has one of these things?” Dean asked.

“It’s a definite possibility.”

“Then let’s go, now. If this dude really can help Sammy, then we should get there as soon as possible.”

Sam nodded. “Let’s hit the road, then.” He started walking, but had to stop and lean on the doorframe.

Gabriel slid an arm around his waist. “You’re still shaking,” he said, quietly. “Let me help you.”

Sam gave him a small, grateful smile, and leaned on him all the way to the Impala.

***

“Dean, pull over. I’ll drive. You need to sleep.”

“M’fine, Sammy. Not tired at all.”

“You just yawned. And you almost swerved into the other lane. Seriously, dude, you need to sleep.”

“But what if you have a vision while you’re driving the car?”

Sam sighed. “Let Gabriel drive, then. You’re exhausted Dean, and if you keep driving you’re going to get us killed.”

“Yeah, Dean, let me drive. I think I remember how to use a stick shift.”

“No, no, No, absolutely not. He is not getting anywhere near the wheel of Baby. No.”

“Then will you at least get a motel for the night?”

“I don’t need to stop, Sam. I’m…” Dean interrupted himself with a yawn, “fine. I’m fine. Besides, the sooner we get to this Coyote’s place the sooner he can fix you up.”

“A single night won’t kill me, Dean. Come on, you really need to sleep.”

Dean yawned again. “You may be right,” he admitted. “Hell, who am I kidding, of course you’re right. It won’t matter how quickly we would have gotten to Coyote’s if I wrap us around a tree, will it?” He pulled off the highway, headed down an exit that promised at least one awful motel to stay in. “We’ll get a fresh start in the morning.”

***

Sam sat up, hands desperately scrabbling at the covers for a weapon that wasn’t there. He looked around wildly, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He looked around again, unable to shake the feeling that something was, or would soon be, wrong. He could feel the tight anticipation he usually got before a fight sitting in his chest, but could find no cause for it.

“Sam?” Gabriel asked from where he was sprawled on the couch with Sam’s laptop, “What’s up?”

“I don’t know,” Sam muttered, and continued to look around the room, as though this time he might see a monster he had missed before. “It’s just…something. Probably nothing.”

“You’re freaking out. I can feel it.”

Sam huffed and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, alright? It feels like something bad is about to happen. I couldn’t tell you what, just that it’s something bad.” He twisted his hands together in frustration. “It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s going to. Soon.”

Gabriel looked concerned. “Sam…”

“I know it sounds crazy. It’s probably nothing. Just a bad dream, or something. Forget about it. I’m going back to sleep.”

“It isn’t nothing.”

“What? How do you know?”

“Because Sam, as you’ve just recently proved, you’re definitely precognitive. If I’m going to trust anyone’s feeling of impending doom, it’s yours. Plus, I’ve been feeling it too. For the past hour, something’s felt off. Nothing I could put my finger on, you understand, but something. I tried everything I could, but more and more of my power is tied up in our bond, so my patented awesome archangel powers are on the fritz. You actually did a better job of describing it than me, much as I hate to admit it.”

“We should leave, Gabriel. Now.”

Gabriel closed Sam’s laptop and stood up. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “If it’s bothering you that badly, I don’t want to hang around to find out what this something is, especially since I’m about as useful as a kitten in a fight right now.”

“Really? The bond’s taking up that much of your power?”

“Yeah. Me blasting down that bathroom door yesterday was my last big hurrah. I might be able to snap up some heavenly goodness in the form of a chocolate bar, but that’s about it.”

“Oh. We should leave now. I don’t want to have to fight whatever’s coming, especially if you’re going to be practically useless.”

“Wow, thanks Sammoose, I really appreciate that.”

“I, uh, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not useless, I just meant that you would be in a fight. No, uh, not useless, just not, you know, super helpful. Wait, sorry I didn’t mean…I’m just going to stop talking now.” Sam blushed. “Sorry,” he added.

Gabriel laughed. “You’re cute when you’re flustered,” he told Sam.

“I, uh, what?

Gabriel winked at him. “You heard me. Now go wake up your brother so we can get the hell out of here.”

Sam opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. _There’s no point in asking him why he said it,_ he thought to himself. _We really do need to get the hell out of here and I can always take it up with him later. But not in the Impala. Not anywhere where Dean could possibly overhear. He’d never let me hear the end of it._

Sam shook Dean’s shoulder. “Wake up. We’ve got to go.”

Dean sat bolt upright, hand going for the gun under his pillow. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Gabriel and I both have a…feeling. Like something bad is coming. We need to leave before it gets here.”

“Wait, Sammy, you’re telling me that you woke me up because you and Gabriel have a _bad feeling_? Are you serious? Go back to sleep.”

“Don’t be a moron, Dean-o. Have you forgotten that little Sammy here can see the future? He thinks something’s coming, and I can feel it too. We _need_ to go.”

“Look, Gabriel…”

A knock at the door cut Dean off.

“Oh boys,” trilled a voice from outside, “I know y’all are in there, so there really ain’t no point in hiding. Why don’t y’all just let me in? It’ll be quicker that way. Less time for y’all to be scared. I don’t like it when my dinner spends bunches and bunches of time bein’ all scared; it toughens up the meat somethin’ frightful you know. So come on, darlin’s, just open the door and let me in.”

“It’s the Leviathan from the diner,” Sam said quietly.

“Really? Not one of y’all are willing to be polite and let me in? Young boys are so rude these days.”

The door flew across the room and shattered against the far wall. The old woman Leviathan stepped into the now empty door frame.

_Sam,_ Gabriel whispered in his mind, _when she gets into the center of the room, grab your brother and anything you absolutely have to have and run for the Impala. I can distract her long enough for us to get away. Got it?_

_Got it,_ Sam answered.

“Well,” the woman-shaped Leviathan said as she walked into the motel room, “which one of y’all should I eat first? The tall one? The pretty one? Or the runaway archangel? It’s so hard to choose.”

“How did you find us?” Dean demanded.

“Oh honey, we were in the head of that pretty angel boy of yours. We know everything about y’all that he does, including how attached to that car of yours y’all are. That boy certainly seemed to like you, that’s for sure.”

“What did you do to him?” Dean yelled.

“That angel boy? Oh nothing too special. He vanished before we had a chance to do more than just tickle him.”

“Cas,” Dean whispered, and for the first time since Cas had walked into that reservoir, Sam thought Dean looked like he had hope.

“So Ms. Leviathan, are you going to eat us or are you just going to stand there and monologue? Because if you are just gonna keep talking, I volunteer to be eaten. Anything other than listening to you,” Gabriel announced.

“Why you little cretin!” the Leviathan exclaimed as she stepped toward Gabriel.

Sam felt Gabriel’s satisfaction that his ploy had worked flicker across the bond, then Gabriel shouted, _Now Sam!_

Sam grabbed his and Dean’s duffels and pushed Dean towards the door. When he reached the doorway, he stopped and looked back. The Leviathan was on _fire._ Gabriel had set the Leviathan _on fire._

Gabriel barreled straight into Sam’s chest. Sam automatically threw his arms around him, which he realized was pretty fortunate when Gabriel’s legs gave out seconds later.

“We have to go,” Gabriel panted, clinging to Sam, “It’ll slow her down, but it won’t stop her. We need to get gone.”

“Dean,” Sam said, turning to face him, “take the bags. I’ve got to help Gabriel.”

Dean nodded mutely and grabbed the bags.

“I’m going to have to carry you, aren’t I?” Sam asked Gabriel.

“Lucky you,” Gabriel quipped as Sam lifted into his arms.

“Really?” Dean asked when he finally saw Sam. “Bridal style?”

Sam shrugged. “It seemed like the easiest way.”

“Of course it did,” Dean said to no one in particular as he opened the back door of the Impala.

Sam ducked in, careful not to bump Gabriel’s head. He settled himself and Gabriel in the backseat, with Gabriel leaning against his shoulder while Dean got in the driver’s side. Dean pealed out of the parking lot, and when Sam looked back, he swore he could make out a smoking figure standing in the doorway to their motel room.

“I told you it wouldn’t stop her for long,” Gabriel said quietly.

Sam smiled at him. “It stopped her long enough for us to get out, and that’s what matters. I’m amazed you managed to set her on fire, I know you haven’t got much power left. Thank you, you saved our lives.”

“Mmmm,” Gabriel answered.

“Thanks for saving our lives and all, but I still don’t like you. Just thought I’d make that clear,” Dean interjected.

“Really, Dean?” Sam hissed. He looked at Gabriel to see what the archangel thought of Dean’s asshole behavior, but Gabriel was fast asleep, head resting on Sam’s shoulder.

“I didn’t think angels were supposed to sleep,” Dean said quietly.

“Me neither. I think we need to get to Coyote fast.”

Dean nodded and stepped on the accelerator.

***

The Impala rolled to a stop at the top of a long winding driveway surrounded by pine trees on all sides. The house was small and made of planks of a pale wood. Smoke drifted out of the tiny, redbrick chimney on the roof.

“This is it,” Gabriel said. “Coyote likes it here in the summer. It’s high enough up in the mountains to be cool and far away from prying eyes. As soon as the first snows come, though, he’ll be gone. He’s got a gorgeous winter place in Aspen. Loves skiing, Coyote does.”

Sam pulled himself out of the car and helped Gabriel out too. Gabriel, while finally awake, was still weak. Sam was a bit shaky himself, because he’d had another vision about an hour ago. _I really hope that Gabriel’s right and Coyote really can help me with my visions,_ he thought.

He’d seen the same park from his last vision, except this time he’d realized that it wasn’t a park. It was the yard he was currently standing in. What he’d thought was a path through the trees was actually the driveway.

_Huh. You’re right. You did see this house in your visions,_ Gabriel thought. _That’s interesting. But it was nighttime there._

_There was more, in my second vision,”_ Sam thought. _I went north, until I hit a clearing with a stream running through it. And I felt like there was definitely someone else there with me. I never saw them, but I know they were there._

Gabriel wrinkled his nose. _You’ll have to ask Coyote to be sure, but if I remember correctly there is a clearing with a stream that runs through it north of here. That’s…interesting. But don’t worry, Coyote will definitely be able to help you. I’ve seen him help other psychic humans before._ Gabriel reached up and stroked Sam’s face and rubbed his thumb over the spot on his forehead where Sam’s headache seemed to be concentrated. “You’ll be fine, Sam, you’ll see,” he said aloud, as if to emphasize the point.

Sam leaned into the hand, because it really did seem to be lessening his headache. He thought Gabriel might be using a tiny bit of his Grace to help soothe the pain. He knew he ought to be upset that Gabriel was taking that kind of risk, seeing as his Grace was so low, but it felt really, _really_ nice. “I hope so,” he responded. “I hope so.”

“Hey! You two! Enough with the touchy-feely crap. We’re on a mission, here. Could you two stop making goo-goo eyes at each other for long enough for us to get this done?” Dean shouted from where he was standing on Coyote’s porch.

“We’re not…I give up,” Sam said, throwing the hand that wasn’t supporting Gabriel up in the air as he and the angel started walking towards Dean. “I just give up.”

“Good idea, really,” Gabriel replied. “He’d never stop. Do you want me to turn his shirt into one that has a huge picture of Cas’s face surrounded by a heart to help remind him that he’s hardly one to be throwing stones? Because I can totally do that.”

Sam snorted. “Maybe later.”

They climbed the steps up to the porch and stood next to Dean in front of the door. Gabriel reached out and knocked on the door, once, twice, three times. Then he stopped, waited a couple of seconds, and did it again.

The door opened seconds later. “Loki, my old friend! How have you been?” cried the man in the doorway, his arms outstretched.

Gabriel hugged the man. “I was dead for a bit, but I got better. Started going by Gabriel again, too. How’ve you been, Coyote?”

“Well enough, thank you. I saw Raven last week, and she’s well too. Asked after you, by the way. She said that she’d heard from Kali about a year ago that you were dead, and just couldn’t believe it. Wanted to know if I knew anything about it.”

“Kali was right. A year ago I was very, _very_ dead. But, gods above and below,” Gabriel shuddered, “Raven and Kali? Talking?”

Coyote laughed. “I know, those two in any sort of proximity is _terrifying._ I half expected Raven to tell me that they’d also perfected their plans to rule the world, but if they have she’s not telling me. Ah, but I am being awfully rude. Come in, Gabriel, and your friends too!”

Coyote stood aside an ushered them through the front door into what appeared to be his living room. “Please, sit,” he said, gesturing at the couch. “I will be right back. Do you all want coffee?”

Everyone nodded in assent, and he vanished into the next room. He returned a moment later, carrying a tray with coffeepot, mugs, cream, and sugar. “I knew someone was coming,” he told them, “so I made sure to put coffee on.”

Once everyone had settled back with their cups of coffee, Coyote turned to look at Gabriel. “I have a feeling this isn’t a social visit,” he said.

“Can’t a guy just drop by to see an old friend?” Gabriel asked.

“A guy generally calls first. And doesn’t usually show up with two other friends in tow. Plus, Gabriel, you look ill, and that young man over there, the tall one, he keeps looking at you like he’s afraid you’ll break.”

“That’s Sam. The other one is Dean. And you’re right, I’m not here on a social visit. I need three things from you. Well, two things, really. The third one is technically for Sam.”

“Oh?” Coyote seemed surprised. “I never thought I’d see the day where you’d come to me asking for help for a human. What’s so special about this one?”

Sam watched in shock as Gabriel blushed and looked down at his lap. “He’s, uh, my bonded.”

Coyote’s eyebrows went so far up his forehead so quickly that Sam was afraid they were going to fly off. “Well you’ve certainly changed quite a bit.” He looked at Sam. “And an angelic bond at that. Gabriel, you are just full of surprises.” Coyote focused on Sam. “What does he think you need my help with?”

“Visions. I see the future, but they hurt. I get awful headaches for hours before and I’m left weak and shaking afterwards. I had them for a couple of years but then the stopped and didn’t start again until after I was bonded to Gabriel.”

“A little bit of telekinesis, too,” Gabriel added. “Almost completely uncontrolled and done without any intention.”

“What?” Sam gasped, turning to look at Gabriel.

“It was just one time that I know of,” Gabriel told him, “I’d actually forgotten about it until now.”

“How much control do you have over these visions, Sam?” Coyote interrupted. “Can you make them happen on command?”

“No. I can’t do anything with them. They just show up.”

“Are they of the future, past, or present?”

“Always the future.”

Coyote made a “hmmmm” noise. “I can help you,” he said finally. “It will take time. But I can definitely help you. If you learn how to make the visions happen when you wish, that should alleviate the headaches, to some extent. As for the telekinesis, I can help with that as well. But again, it will take time and practice.”

“Thank you,” Sam told him gratefully.

“You’re welcome. Now, Gabriel, what were the other things you needed from me.”

“Do you remember the key I gave to you, millennia ago?”

“Of course I do. You were distraught, you begged me to hide it. You started going by Loki after that. I’m hardly going to forget it.”

“I need it.”

“And you shall have it. I keep it upstairs, I’ll go fetch it in a moment. What was the last thing you needed?”

“You know I’m bonded to Sam.”

“I was hardly going to miss it. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that the boy’s been marked by an Archangel.”

“Yes, well,” Gabriel seemed flustered, “it hasn’t worked out, exactly. My Grace is being drawn into the bond and I can’t stop it. I’m losing all my amazing powers.”

Coyote laughed. Sam, Dean, and Gabriel all stared at him. “Dude, this is serious!” barked Dean. “Guy tried to poof himself and Sam off somewhere, but they both went all comatose and freaked out when they weren’t near each other. That’s not funny.”

Coyote continued to chuckle and pretended to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. “Of course it’s funny,” he replied. “It’s all so _obvious,_ really. Come now, Gabriel, I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out. I should have thought it absolutely apparent. Even if it wasn’t at first, you should have figured it out the instant you arrived here.”

Gabriel stared blankly at Coyote.

“Loki, Gabriel, I called you _Loki_.”

Gabriel continued to stare blankly at Coyote.

“Gabriel, while you are an eons old and incredibly powerful archangel as well as one of my closest friends, you can be, on occasion, incredibly, _incredibly_ thick.”

“Excuse you, but I am an amazingly powerful and clever and charming archangel with amazing archangel powers and I am definitely not thick!”

“Exactly,” yelled Coyote, waving his hands about dramatically. “Exactly! You’re all that, but you’re also a pagan trickster god with a fondness for sweets and bad pranks! Duality, Gabriel! Duality, Loki!”

Gabriel smacked himself on the forehead. “I am a moron. An amazing, incredibly powerful, gorgeous _moron_. How did I miss that?”

Coyote raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to respond.

“Don’t,” Gabriel said, mock sternly, pointing a finger at Coyote.

“Would you two mind filling us in on what’s so obvious, or would that take up too much of your precious time?” Dean asked sarcastically.

“Thanks to his time as a pagan god, Gabriel has developed a dual nature. He is Gabriel, but he is also Loki. He is both an archangel and a pagan god.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got that part. What I don’t get is what that has to do with this. Are you saying that his pagan god playtime messed him up so badly that he can’t get it up for the bond anymore?”

“Really, Dean? Don’t be obtuse. It makes sense, now that Coyote’s explained it,” Sam chastised him.

“Really? ‘Cause from where I’m sitting, he talked a lot without actually saying anything.”

“Gabriel isn’t just Gabriel, he’s Loki too. He’s bound himself to me as Gabriel the archangel, but not as Loki. His grace is pouring into the bond because it isn’t really finished yet. Or, at least,” Sam looked at Coyote and Gabriel, “I think that’s what you said.”

“Sharp as a blade _and_ good looking? I can see why you like him, Gabriel.”

Gabriel blushed slightly. “It’s not like that,” he said.

Coyote smiled. “Of course it isn’t. My mistake.”

Sam got the feeling Coyote didn’t really think he’d made a mistake, which was…unsettling. He wasn’t sure why Coyote had jumped to the conclusion that he and Gabriel were a couple, and he wasn’t sure why it didn’t really bother him that he had. It did bother him that it didn’t bother him, though. What right did he have to think of Gabriel in that way at all? Gabriel obviously didn’t think of him that way, judging by how quickly he’d denied it when Coyote had brought it up. Why did he even like Gabriel? He hadn’t exactly been nice to them. Unless he counted the time they’d met him when he was pretending to be a janitor. He’d definitely flirted with Sam, and Sam had definitely tried to flirt back. And Gabriel had also died for them. Something like that, it meant a lot. Then he’d come back from the dead, and he’d specifically wanted to be bonded to Sam and told him that he wasn’t a monster or abomination.

_Sam? You in there?_ Gabriel asked him.

“I, uh, yeah, sorry. I just, uh, got a bit distracted. Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“Dude, I said your name like, three times and you didn’t budge. You okay?” Dean asked.

“I, yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking.”

“As I was saying,” Coyote said, sounding a tiny bit amused.

Sam _really_ hoped that Coyote hadn’t been able to tell what he’d been thinking about.

“The solution to your problem is simple. Conduct a pagan binding ritual and all of your problems should vanish.”

“Are you sure you’re up to that?” Sam asked Gabriel. “You’re weak. Do you even have enough power to do the binding?”

“Pagan rituals don’t actually require much in the way of power. Their power comes from the design of the ritual itself and from the intent of the participants. I can do this, Sammykins.”

Sam rubbed his hands together. “Then let’s do this. What are we going to need?”

“Gabriel can deal with that,” Coyote told him. “The ritual won’t take place until after moonrise. Until then, you and I are going to be doing some meditation.”

“Why?”

“The sooner you can begin to get a handle on your visions, the better. From what you said, they’re incredibly painful and debilitating. It takes time to change these things, so you may as well start now.”

“Makes sense,” Sam said.

“Right,” Gabriel said. “I’ll go gather the ingredients for the ritual. I have no desire to sit around and be,” he shuddered in pretend horror, “introspective.” He got up and left the room.

“Plus, if you’re going to be “poofing” around the world fighting monsters with Gabriel, you need to get the visions and telekinesis under control. Telekinesis, when it isn’t controlled, can act on the owner’s behalf, but it’s erratic. You could try to do something beyond your power without even knowing it, and then you’d be in for a world of hurt. You, my boy, need control.”

“What do we start with?” Sam asked eagerly.

“First, I have one thing to tell you. Well, mostly to your brother.”

“What?” Dean asked, surprised.

“Do you know a man with blue eyes and dark hair? He is not, I think, entirely human.”

Dean went rigid. “Yes,” he whispered.

Coyote nodded. “I had a feeling you did. Your friend, he is alive and physically unhurt. But…”

“But what? What’s wrong with Cas?”

“He does not remember who he is. While have seen him in my visions, I cannot, as of right now, tell you where he is. There are some things I can try to locate him. Do you have anything of his?”

“Yes, yes, his trench coat.”

“That will work. Once Sam and Gabriel have been sorted out, I will try to find him, though I may need your help,” Coyote told him.

“Thank you,” Dean said gruffly.

Sam knew that while Dean pretended to be tough, the news meant a lot to him. As he and Coyote settled down to begin their first meditation session, Sam could hear Dean whispering “Cas is alive, Cas is alive” under his breath, over and over.

***

“It’s just like my vision,” Sam confided to Gabriel as they entered a clearing in the forest with a small stream running through it. “Everything happened just like my vision.”

“Huh. I just wish your visions would do a little more explaining,” Gabriel replied. “Right, pants off.”

Sam’s eyes went wide. “Wha…what? Do I have to?”

“Nah, I’m just messing with you. You’ll want to roll them up though. We’re going to have to stand in the stream.” Gabriel sat down and indicated for Sam to do the same. He handed Sam a bundle of sage and some twine, and motioned for him to start wrapping. Sam carefully removed his shoes and socks and rolled up his pants before he began.

“Why do we have to do that, again?”

“Moving water stands for change. Also the washing away of the past life and the cleansing of the soul.”

“I thought that’s what the sage smudging and the rosemary oil were for.”

“Yeah, but with stuff like this you can never have too much purification. It stops anything dark from the participants’ past lives getting into the bond and tainting it,” Gabriel explained.

“Makes sense. Last question, I promise. Why does it have to be at night?”

“Moonlight isn’t harsh like sunlight, it reveals without washing things out. Because it shows things so delicately, it’s better at revealing the true nature of a person. The idea is that both people should really know exactly what they’re getting into.”

Sam finished wrapping his bundle of sage and stood up. “Right,” he said, “that makes sense, I guess. Let’s get started.” He pulled a matchbook out of his pocket, lit a match, and set it to the sage. Once it caught fire, he carefully blew it out, leaving it smoking. “Spin,” he said, pointing at Gabriel.

Gabriel did a pirouette.

“Slowly,” Sam said, but he was smiling.

Gabriel spun around slowly while Sam wafted the sage smoke around him, from his head to his toes. “Alright, you’re done. Now you do me.”

“I’m flattered, Sam, but don’t you think we should at least finish the ritual first?”

“I, uh, no! Not like that! I meant it’s your turn to smudge me. Not…I didn’t. I’ll stop now,” Sam stammered, handing Gabriel the matchbook.

Gabriel chuckled as he lit his smudge stick. “‘Course you didn’t. Spin.”

Sam spun around slowly, bare feet padding on the grass, while Gabriel carefully bathed him in smoke.

“You’re done, kiddo. Let’s go,” Gabriel told him. “Into the stream.”

Sam walked into the stream and was relieved to find that it went slightly less than half-way up his calves. Gabriel splashed noisily into the stream after him holding a bundle of twigs drenched in rosemary oil.

“Basically the same thing as before, kiddo,” Gabriel told him. “Just repeat after me and ignore the fact that we’re doing some big magic here.”

Sam smiled a little nervously. “I think I can do that.”

Gabriel snorted. “I’d hope so. If that big old Stanford brain of yours can’t manage to repeat after me, I really don’t think there’s any hope for the rest of the human race. Right here we go.”

Lifting the bundle of twigs, he swept his arm down slowly, spraying Sam with tiny droplets of oil. He then swept his arm swiftly from left to right, again spraying Sam with oil droplets.

“Hammer-sign. It’s a Norse thing,” he said in answer to Sam’s quizzical look. “Your turn. Once you’re done, drop the twigs in the stream. We won’t need them anymore.”

Sam repeated the gesture and dropped the twigs.

Gabriel straightened his shoulders and held out his hands. Sam grasped them.

“I am yours, and you are mine,” Gabriel said.

“I am yours, and you are mine,” Sam repeated.

“I, Gabriel, do swear that is how it shall be until the end of our days.”

“I, Sam Winchester, do swear that is how it shall be until the end of our days.”

Suddenly, Gabriel began to glow. Golden, shimmering light gathered around his body, and Sam could faintly make out the outline of a massive pair of wings extending from Gabriel’s back. Sam stood awestruck.

Finally, the glow began to fade.

Something about the sight made Sam pull Gabriel in close to him. He was close enough that with just the tiniest bit of effort, he could lean down and kiss Gabriel. He really wanted to do that.

“You do realize that I’m not human, right?”

Sam surveyed Gabriel. He was still glowing, albeit faintly.

“Yes, I do believe that I have managed to surmise as much,” he admitted, mouth inches away from Gabriel’s. “I figured it out years ago, if you can believe it.”

Gabriel draped an arm around Sam’s neck. “Are you sure you’re okay with that?” he asked.

“I think so. I’m not saying I won’t be surprised sometimes, but I think I can manage.”

Gabriel smirked. “I am very surprising,” he said in a low, dirty whisper.

Sam blushed bright red. “I…uh…that’s…uh…does that mean…that you…uh…like…” he stammered.

“You,” Gabriel said, very deliberately, “are a massive, strange, adorable dork. And I like you very, _very_ much. I’m going to kiss you now, and then we are going to go back to Coyote’s house and I am going to snap us up a giant chocolate cake and we will definitely eat all of it. Then I’m going to kiss you some more, unless you have any objections.”

Sam blushed even deeper, which surprised Gabriel. He had been pretty certain that Sam couldn’t have gotten any redder.

“I…uh…think I’d like that,” he admitted quietly.

“Good,” Gabriel replied, and pulled him in for a kiss.

***

Sam opened his eyes to find himself standing in a cavernous white hall and holding hands with Gabriel. He knew immediately that he was dreaming.

“I don’t usually know when I’m dreaming,” he told Gabriel.

“You’re not dreaming, exactly. This is more like a vision than a dream.”

“Oh? How can you tell? I’ve never been aware in my visions before, either.”

“I can tell for two reasons. First, I could tell you were having a vision and I followed you here. That’s why I’m here and aware. Second, I know this place.”

“Really?” Sam took a closer look at their surroundings. The ceiling arched high above his head, the upper reaches lost in shadow. He took a closer look and realized that the delicately carved walls weren’t painted white, but made directly from ice and snow. At the end of the hall, on a raised dais, sat an elaborately shaped and detailed throne, also made of snow and ice. “Gabriel,” he asked, “where are we?”

“People think Jotenheim and Asgard and Musphelheim are planets, but they’re wrong. They’re worlds unto themselves, yes, but they are not worlds the way Earth is a world. They are all together, all one. There is no way to explain them that you could understand.”

“Thanks,” Sam said sarcastically.

“It’s because you’re human. There’s no way to explain these concepts that makes sense from a human perspective. Believe me, I’ve tried. The best I can do is offer you a metaphor.”

“That works.”

“Think of all of the worlds except Midgard, which you would call Earth, as a massive palace. And this palace is so large that you might not even realize that you were inside it. Now, imagine that each of the worlds is a massive set of rooms within this palace. At certain places in these sets of rooms, there are doors into corridors. These corridors are called the Yggdrasil, and they connect all of the sets of rooms, or worlds, together. With me so far?”

“So far.”

“Good. Now the only way out of these worlds and onto Midgard or Earth, whichever you prefer, is through a door located in the set of rooms that’s called Asgard. When you go through this door, you have to cross over a rainbow bridge. That’s the Bifrost. Make sense?”

“Yeah, actually,” Sam said. “You made it sound like there was no possible way I could ever understand it, but it seems quite simple.”

Gabriel snorted. “That’s because that metaphor is completely incorrect and is nothing like the way it actually works.”

“Oh.” Sam turned to look again at the massive and empty hall. “Why are we…will we be here?”

“Because this is the throne room of the Jotun king. I hid one of the keys here.”

“Why would you do that? You lived with the Aesir. The Jotun were your enemies. Wouldn’t that be dangerous, to hide something so precious with your enemies?” Sam asked.

“Of course it was dangerous. That was the point,” Gabriel said with a small smile on his face. “One of my favorite tricks. I challenged the Jotun king to a game. I told him I’d hidden something of mine in his kingdom, and that if he could find it, I would give him any single item from the treasury of Asguard. If he didn’t find it, however, I got my pick of his treasury. We had an agreement: three days and three riddles. He agreed to the three day time limit, and in return I agreed to give him three riddles that would lead him to the item’s location. I knew I would win. He was far too stupid to look under his own nose.” Gabriel sounded very smug. “Once his three days were up, and he had lost, he asked me where it was. I told him I was going to leave it hidden, since it seemed pretty safe there. After all, I said, all his power and he hadn’t been able to find it, so it didn’t seem like anyone else would. That was the best part of the joke. Anytime he looked at his kingdom, he always had to wonder if he was seeing the place I’d hidden it. Nearly drove him mad, the not knowing.”

“You idiot!” Sam yelled.

“What?”

“You are a moron. If they’d found the key, they would have known what you were, wouldn’t they?”

“Well, yeah. The key’s got my sigil on it, just like the one Coyote had.”

“I met some of those pagan gods, remember? They didn’t exactly seem friendly towards angels. So what you’re saying to me is you willingly put yourself in danger of being discovered to play a trick on this guy?” Sam asked.

“In my defense,” said Gabriel, “I really didn’t like him.”

“Oh god,” Sam said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“You’re forgetting, Sam. I was very different back then. The pain was all so new and fresh and awful. I just wanted to forget, and I threw myself headfirst into anything that could possibly, _maybe_ , make me forget. I was wild and reckless and sometimes I wonder if I didn’t half want to be discovered. It would have meant that I wouldn’t have had to keep pretending.”

“I’m sorry, Gabriel. I didn’t realize.”

“How could you have? I sort of got over it, eventually. Calmed down a bit. Still, it’s only recently that I’ve really, well, been any sort of stable. Look, can we not talk about this? I really don’t want to talk about this.”

“Right, um…” Sam cast about for something to talk about. “You said this was the throne hall of the Jotun king. Why aren’t there any people?”

“They faded away,” said Gabriel sadly. “These gods and monsters, they need belief to exist. They feed on it. Without the belief, they fade. The Norse gods that you met at Elysian Fields, they were the last. All of the others, they’d faded away, some of them centuries ago. There’s no one left, now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s the cycle of life. Things live, things die. Even gods.” Gabriel squeezed Sam’s hand. “Besides, most of them really didn’t like me. And who wants to think about such depressing stuff when we could be using this excellent vision to ice skate in the throne hall of the Jotun king? I mean, how many people can say they’ve done that?”

Gabriel snapped his fingers, and skates appeared on both their feet.

Sam clutched desperately at him. “Gabriel,” he said, a touch of panic in his voice, “I can’t skate.”

“Well then I’ll just have to teach you, won’t I? One foot in front of the other, in strokes, just like with rollerblading.”

“I can’t do that either,” Sam said.

“Can’t rollerblade or ice skate? You have been missing out, Sammich. Hang on, I’m going to show you a good time.”

_He’s changing the subject so he doesn’t have to talk about it,_ Sam thought. _He’s just as bad as Dean. I’ll bring it up later. He can’t avoid talking about it forever._ Then he thought, _Oh my god he’s going really fast, help me._

***

The next morning, Sam walked into Coyote’s dining room, and was greeted by the sight of Dean practically deep-throating some waffles. “Have you tried chewing your food?” he asked him.

“You look happy.” Dean squinted at Sam suspiciously. “Why do you look so happy? Did you and Gabriel do something inappropriate last night? Do I have to give him the whole ‘overprotective big brother’ routine? Because I will.”

“We had cake, Dean.”

“Is that some sort of euphemism?”

“Oh yes, Dean-o. All the kids are saying it these days. It means…”

“Gabriel!” Sam interrupted. He knew what Gabriel was planning to say and hoped to never hear those words in that order ever again. Ever.

“C’mon, Sammy,” Gabriel whined as he sat down at the table and snapped up some pancakes, “traumatizing your brother is so much fun.”

“While I’m sure you would find his reaction very entertaining, Gabriel, I have no desire to watch him spit food all over my table and floor,” Coyote said calmly as he entered the room carrying a dish.

“You know, for a Trickster god you’re not much fun,” Gabriel told him.

“I am plenty of fun,” Coyote replied, “I just don’t find your juvenile sense of humor appealing.” He set the dish of sausages he was carrying down on the table. “I do imagine, however, that Sam certainly had some of these last night,” he added serenely.

Dean’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth, egg trembling precariously on the end of it. His mouth hung wide open.

Sam laughed so hard at the look on his face that he had to sit down. Gabriel, too, was laughing uproariously. Coyote maintained his composure, sitting serenely at the head of the table, surveying them as though they were his children.

Sam realized that he was happy. They were, for the moment at least, safe from the threat of Leviathan attack. His visions were coming back, yes, but Dean and Gabriel had promised to stay by his side no matter what and Coyote was going to teach him how to control them. They now knew that Cas was alive, and with Coyote’s help, they would be able to find him. Dean would be able to stop moping around, and maybe after the trauma of losing him, would finally man up and make a move. They were safe, eating good food, and had a plan to defeat the Leviathan. Soon they wouldn’t have to run. They’d be able to fight off the Leviathans and protect the people who couldn’t, like the poor pages who were being eaten by the “senator”. Plus, he was holding Gabriel’s hand under the table and could feel his love flowing through their bond. Sam turned to smile at him, and made sure that he was projecting his feelings clearly across the bond. Gabriel smiled back at him.

“Make them stop doing mushy stuff while I’m trying to eat,” Dean complained to Coyote.

_Yes,_ thought Sam as Gabriel and Dean began to bicker good naturedly, _this is what happiness feels like._

***

“Dean, I require your assistance.”

“Why?” Dean asked, squinting suspiciously at Coyote.

“There are…things, spells and such, that I can do to help you find your friend. But therein lies the problem. He is _your_ friend. I do not know him and I do not possess anything of his. In order for this to work, I need something of his, and the assistance of someone who knows him. It is my belief that you can provide both.”

Dean nodded excitedly. “I have something of his in the car,” he said, and rushed out.

“That’s our cue,” Gabriel said to Sam, standing up and stretching. “They don’t need us for this part, so we may as well head out after the Keys.”

“Alright,” Sam said as he stood up. “I just have to ask Dean one thing.”

“Ask me what?” Dean asked, reentering the house with Castiel’s coat clutched in his arms.

“When you guys get a location for Cas, call me.”

“Why?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “He’s my friend too, Dean. I’d like to know what happened to him.”

Dean nodded. “Will do, Sammy.”

“Ready?” asked Gabriel, holding out his hand.

“Ready,” Sam answered, grasping it.

They vanished.

***

The two of them appeared in the hall from Sam’s dream. The eerie, icy silence that pervaded the expanse was somehow more prominent in the reality of the place than it had been in Sam’s dream.

“Let’s do this quickly,” Sam whispered to Gabriel. He felt anything louder than a whisper would somehow be sacrilegious, in this place, and possibly dangerous.

“Agreed,” Gabriel responded in kind.

Sam and Gabriel held hands, perhaps in an attempt to provide each other with some comfort and reassurance in the desolate, icy world in which they found themselves, as they walked toward the Jotun King’s throne. When they reached it, Gabriel walked behind the throne, kneelt, and after a few swipes to clear away some snow and ice, retrieved a key identical to the one from Coyote’s house.

“Good, we can go now,” Sam said thankfully.

A loud tone rent the air. Sam and Gabriel froze.

The noise came again.

“I think it’s you,” Gabriel said.

Sam fumbled at his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Yeah, it’s mine. Dean must have changed my ringtone again.” Sam looked at the contact name on the phone, then swiped to answer the call. “Dean? What’s up?”

“We found him, Sam. Coyote and I are just about to leave to go get Cas.”

“That’s great! Let me know when you guys find him.”

“Will do. Gotta run, Sammy. Bye.”

“Bye, Dean.”

“They find Cas?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah, they’re on their way to him now. How did I even get signal here?”

“Beats me,” Gabriel said with a shrug.

Sam twisted his hands anxiously. “Let’s go. It feels…hostile, here. It did before, too, but now, after the phone…it’s worse.”

The air felt heavy and angry, like it knew, somehow, that Sam didn’t belong. He could feel it pushing down on him, relentless and eternal and vicious in a detached way, almost like he was a bug it was trying to squash just to see if it could.

“You’re right,” Gabriel said. “We should go. I never liked it here much anyway,” he added with a wry twist of his mouth.

He grabbed Sam’s hand and they vanished from the hall, where silence and stillness reigned once more.

***

When they appeared somewhere new for the second time that day, Sam looked up and gasped. “Is that, is that…” he asked.

“Hells yeah,” said Gabriel beside him, “it is. That’s the President. It’s the oldest living sequoia around.”

“It’s huge,” whispered Sam in awe. “I mean, I knew that it was tall, I’ve seen photos, but they didn’t do it justice.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Gabriel said.

“Why are we here, Gabriel?”

“Because that tree didn’t grow that large all on its own. It had a bit of help.”

“From what? And what does that have to do with us?” Sam asked, confused.

“It had help from my grace. Well, part of my grace,” Gabriel said.

“Why?”

“Because I hid my vault in its topmost branches.” Gabriel squinted up at the top of the tree. “It was a lot shorter then,” he admitted. “But it fed off the energy from my vault and it got _tall._ Say, Sammykins, are you sure that nobody hid any vaults at the top of your head? Might explain why you’re so tall.”

Sam just glared at him.

Gabriel laughed and put his hands up. “Alright, alright, I’m done. Promise. No more tall jokes. None.”

“Good,” Sam told him, “or else I might have to start making short jokes.”

“I’m not short!” Gabriel exclaimed. “I’m perfectly average. You and everyone you know just happens to be freakishly tall!”

Sam laughed.

“Whatever,” Gabriel muttered sulkily. “My vault’s right near the top of the tree. I’m going to snap us up there, but you might want to hang on, because we’re going to land on a branch.” He lifted his hand and snapped.

They appeared on a high branch. Sam immediately clutched at it. “This is high,” he said to no one in particular.

“I won’t let you fall, Sam,” promised Gabriel. “Cross my heart.”  He smirked. “Bit ironic, you being afraid of heights.”

“I’m not afraid of heights,” Sam told him. “I’m being reasonably cautious about being hundreds of feet up in the air.”

Gabriel looked down. He supposed that, for a human, it would be an awfully long way. “Fair enough,” he said.

“Um, Gabriel, I thought you said your vault was up here.”

“It is. Did you think I would just leave it lying around out in the open where anyone could see it? Nah, that’d be stupid. So I hid it,” Gabriel explained as he pulled the keys from his pocket. He waved his hand around in the air slightly to the left of the branch. At one spot, seemingly no different from any other, he stopped and nodded, pleased. Gabriel inserted the keys into what appeared to be thin air. Slowly, a crack in the air, a rift, spread open. It widened until it was roughly two feet across.

“Oh,” Sam said.

“Oh,” Gabriel agreed as he reached his hand in.

From the rift, Gabriel pulled something long and golden.

_It looks,_ Sam thought, _like one of those weirdly long horn things that angels always have in paintings. Except it’s got something stuck in the mouth._

“It looks like a horn with something stuck in it. I thought you called it a Sword.”

“A horn with something stuck in it? A horn? With something…stuck in it?” Gabriel pretended to faint. “Don’t listen to him,” he whispered to the horn-thing, cuddling it close to his chest, “you’re a lovely looking sword.”

“I still don’t see how that thing’s a sword,” Sam said.

Gabriel sighed. He grasped the protrusion that extended from the horn-thing’s mouth in his right hand and held it pointing out to the side, away from Sam. “See?” he said. “Sword.”

Sam saw. The protrusion was the hilt, and what he had believed to be the mouth was actually the guard. The body of the horn was actually the blade, which narrowed down not to an opening, but a deadly, needle-like point. Sam saw this, and he saw Gabriel, too. Not the Gabriel he had come to know, all warmth and kindness and humor, but the Archangel Gabriel. Even though he was dressed in human clothing and sitting precariously on a tree branch, he looked unworldly. Gabriel’s eyes were as golden as his sword, and Sam could see him now as an Archangel, leader of the Heavenly host, Lord of Paradise, and Messenger of God. He could see Gabriel leading armies and sitting judgment. He was glorious and gorgeous and beyond human understanding. “Oh,” he said softly.

“Oh,” Gabriel agreed, having followed Sam’s thoughts through their bond. He pulled Sam in for a kiss with his free hand. “I’m still me, you know,” he told Sam afterward, resting his forehead on Sam’s. “I haven’t changed.”

“I know,” Sam replied. “You just tried to make out with me while we’re both sitting on a tree branch that’s hundreds of feet up in the air.” He smiled. “Glorious Archangel or not, you can be a bit of an idiot sometimes.”

“Unfair! I wouldn’t have let us fall.”

Sam raised an eyebrow.

“Well, okay, fine, but I would’ve at least caught us once we did start falling.”

Sam grinned at him. “Well at least you’ll admit it.”

“Whatever,” Gabriel grumbled. He stuck his Sword through his belt and reached back into the rift. He pulled from it a sword that looked very similar to his own from it, though did lack some of the intricate detailing that decorated the blade of his Sword.

“This is for you,” he said, proffering the blade to Sam. “I know it’s not really your type of weapon, but I expect that’ll change pretty quickly.”

“I don’t think so,” Sam replied. “I’ve only ever touched swords a couple of times, and from what I’ve read they take a huge amount of training to master.”

“Oh you’ll see. Hold your hands out, palms up,” Gabriel instructed.

Sam did as he was asked.

Gabriel placed the sword across Sam’s hands. “Hold still,” he said.

“Why?”

Gabriel smirked. “You’ll see.”

The blade glowed gold and before Sam could ask what was happening, separated into two knives, both resembling the demon killing knife that Ruby had given him so long ago, one in each of his hands.

Sam examined them carefully. Their balance was perfect, their edges razor sharp, and they appeared to be made of the same golden material the sword had been made of. “They’re wonderful,” he said, slipping the knives into his belt, “but how?”

“The Bound weapons are meant to protect their wielder,” Gabriel explained, “and one of the things they were meant to do was take on the weapon style that their wielder was the most comfortable with. Since you don’t feel comfortable with swords, they changed into something you would feel comfortable with.”

“We’re really going to be able to do this, aren’t we?” Sam said in amazement. “We’re really, honestly going to be able to do this.” He laughed in wonder.

“Yes we are,” Gabriel replied, catching Sam’s hand in his own, “we really, honestly are.”

Sam smiled and squeezed Gabriel’s hand. They had a war coming, sure. But Coyote and Dean had located Castiel and Coyote had promised to help them restore his memory. There would be many battles ahead, but Dean and Castiel would stand by his side. As would Gabriel. Sam squeezed Gabriel’s hand again, and knew that Gabriel’s thoughts followed a similar path to his. As they sat hand in hand at the top of the tallest tree in the world and watched the sun set behind the mountains, Sam knew hope. Hope that the coming war was winnable, hope that all those he loved would survive it, and hope that he would have, afterwards, a future with the man who he loved and who loved him in return.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Rising Son [Art for Demonsboyking]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3338381) by [Milaley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milaley/pseuds/Milaley)




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